A portrait of the thirteenth-century explorer, adventurer, and global traveler follows Marco Polo from his youth in Venice to his journey to Asia and role in the court of Kublai Khan, to his return to Europe, and discusses his influence on the history ofhis era.
Draws on the author's own parallel journey and new evidence to retraces the steps of the medieval Italian merchant who traveled from Venice, through the Middle East and Central Asia, to China and Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan.