A review by lagarrett
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen

4.0

Enjoyed this book - learned a number of things. Didn't realize that Marco Polo's uncle and father had made a previous journey to the east, or that Beijing was the Mongol capitol at that time. Interesting discussion of how the book came to be written. After 24 years traveling an living in a different culture, Marco Polo is bored on his return to Venice and ends up joining the war against Genoa, where he is captured. In prison he narrated his story to a notary (who had written novels). It's written in French (not his first language) and embroidered by both of them. Each copy is hand written, sometime translated, possibly edited later by Marco Polo. There are several hundred copies, all different! Fascinating.