The Travels of Marco Polo (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) »

Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254. His travels began when at seventeen years old he set off with his merchant father and uncle to visit the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan in Beijing. Shortly after returning from his travels, Polo was reportedly involved in the battle of Curzola (1298) and was imprisoned. Holed up in a prison in Genoa, he dictated his travels in Asia to Rustichello (Rustigielo) of Pisa, a collector of Arthurian romances, and a fellow prisoner. Polo died a fairly wealth man in Venice, and today his name has been given to airports, bridges, hotels, and frequent-flyer clubs.

The Travels of Marco Polo is unquestionably one of the world's greatest travel books and the memoir of the West's most famous traveler. Composed in 1298, the book describes Marco Polo's travels across the entire continent of Asia and provides the only comprehensive travelogue of a European traveler in the East in the Middle Ages.

In a magisterial geographical sweep, The Travels of Marco Polo traces Polo's epic journey to the farthest reaches of Asia. Polo guides his readers through a realm of pigmies, exotic plants and beasts, fine silks, spices, legends, ornate palaces, and cannibalism. His exuberant and sometimes hyperbolic style had untold impact on the European imagination.