The Travels

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

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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140440577
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/30/1958
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	205,525
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marco Polo travelled to China in 1271 and spent the next twenty years in the service of Kublai Khan. He wrote his famous Travels after returning home, whilst a prisoner in Genoa.

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