The Travels

by Marco Polo, Ronald Latham (Introduction), Ronald Latham (Noted by), Ronald Latham (Translator)

Overview

Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kubilai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. The accounts of his travels provide a fascinating glimpse of the different societies he encountered: their religions, customs, ceremonies and way of life; on the spices and silks of the East; on precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts. He tells the story of the holy shoemaker, the wicked caliph and the three kings, among a great many others, evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141906577
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	11/28/1974
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	464,935
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	3 Months

About the Author

Marco Polo was born in 1254, joining his father on a journey to China in 1271. He spent the next twenty years travelling in the service of Kubilai Khan. There is evidence that Marco travelled extensively in the Mongol Empire and it is fairly certain he visted India. He wrote the travels whilst a prisoner in Genoa.
Ronald Latham has published widely on Medieval studies. He died in 1992.

Table of Contents

Chronology vii

Introduction xi

Further Reading xliii

A Note on the Text xlvii

Maps lii

The Journeys of the Polos, 1260-1295 Marco Folo: from Beijing to Bengal, 1175-1291 Marco Polo: from Beijing to Quanzhou, 1275-1291

The Travels

Prologue 3

1 The Middle East 17

2 The Road to Cathay 46

3 Khubilai Khan 87

4 From Beijing to Bengal 141

5 From Beijing to Quanzhou 175

6 From China to India 225

7 India 246

8 The Arabian Sea 283

9 Northern Regions and Tartar Wars 302

List of Abbreviations 343

Appendix 345

Notes 359

Index 397