This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1854 edition by Henry G. Bohn, London.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
There And Back Again:
"The Travels" of Marco Polo is easily one of the most important books in Western literature. Written during the Late Middle Ages, this book has been widely read and appreciated for nearly 700 years. Yet modern readers should note that this is not a modern work meant for pure entertainment. Furthermore, "The Travels" is not a narrative work in any sense, but rather a collection of anecdotes, observations and impressions of places little understood by Europeans during Polo's time. Considerable attention is... more info
Essential Travelogue, could have been better presented:
I have read this book while traveling in China by train. It is a very interesting description of past times, and essential reading for those interested in historical geography. Several points need to be clarified, though. First Marco Polo is not what one would call today an âaeunbiased observerâ. He traveled on the trips he wrote about while being employed as an emissary for the Mongols, and his admiration for the Mongol regime shows throughout. People and civilizations are judged by their... more info
Barely believable adventures.:
A very remarkable book written in the 13th century. Many secrets were reviled when Marco returned. And may interesting explanations of things like the origin of cinnamon. Marco writes well enough of his travels and you feel that you are there. You can actually follow the trail if you have a map. He describes the flora and fauna of each region and describes the economics and industry of the region. Example: "The women of the superior class are in like manner free from superfluous hairs; their skins... more info
Marco's journey:
Marco Polo purportedly spent 17 years travelling to the courts of Kublai Khan and, as an emissary for Kublai Khan, then throughout the Far East. Whether it actually happened or not is up for debate. I went into this text with an open mindset and have accepted that Marco Polo did indeed go on this trip with his father and uncle, but not to the extent as surmised. Instead he travelled and added stories he collected from traders and others to fill in gaps or points of interest to him. The book is broken into... more info
