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Title: The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo, Ronald Latham ISBN: 0-14-044057-7 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1958 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.82 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Go to the Source
Comment: This volume will enthrall anyone interested in true adventure. Marco Polo was the original Indiana Jones and then some. Please do not waste time on Gary Jennings' The Journeyer. This is the real deal and needs no dramatic embellishments. The Travels takes you on a trip from 13th century Venice to "Cathay" and back again. You will learn how Europeans found out about fireworks, paper currency, printing and pasta. The harrowing journey across the Gobi desert is particularly well reported. Marco Polo was more than an explorer. He was one of the world's first anthropologists. This is an exciting read, an account of how medieval Europe initially perceived China and the far east, and of how the Mongol rulers and Chinese emperors perceived them. Highly recommended. As to the print quality of the Penguin edition, I have had my copy since the early eighties and it has yellowed only slightly. Viking is now printing on acid-free paper. One must remember that these editions were printed primarily to reach the widest audience for the least amount of expense at the time. For years, Penguins were accessible to students and to the collector who couldn't afford an elaborate, fully illustrated, fully mapped volume of a particular work. I couldn't have read as many of them as I did in my late teens and early twenties if that were not the case. I owe a lifelong debt to the editors for their efforts. I've also never read a bad translation of any Penguin Classic.
Rating: 3
Summary: Borders between Travelogue and Fantasy
Comment: This is a hard review to write, I wish I had an option to give this 3 1/2 stars, but I can't quite give 4 and I can't quite stomach 3. This book is great if you wish to glean facts about 13th century Europeon male's point of view of the middle and Far east. There are some tales that are completely stupendous, and cannot be believed at all and then there are some great, anecdotes, a favorite of mine is one were Marco challenges the ability of Kublai Khan's empire to function using a paper monetary system, at which Polo is completely incredulous, a monetary system, everyone in the world uses today. There are some excellent recounts of native islands, unspoiled back lands and an excellent feeling for the travels of a trader that took that original silk route over 600 years ago. It's an easy read though, short chapters, and fanciful tales make it flow fast, so even if the fantastic tales annoy your need for historic fact, it's probably worth the few days this takes to thumb through.
Rating: 5
Summary: Barely believable adventures.
Comment: 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 are fare, and they are well formed."
It is interesting to see how little has changed from Marco Polo's 13th century and now.
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Title: Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World by John Larner ISBN: 0300089007 Publisher: Yale Nota Bene Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Adventures of Ibn Battuta : A Muslim Traveller of the 14th Century by Ross E. Dunn ISBN: 0520067436 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $17.59 |
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Title: Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Penguin Classics) by John Mandeville, Mandeville ISBN: 0140444351 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1984 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Life along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield ISBN: 0520232143 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 06 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Venice Against the Sea: A City Besieged by John Keahey ISBN: 0312265948 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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