Read complete books and articles on: Marco Polo

Polo, Marco - märˈkō pōˈlō, 1254?–1324?, Venetian traveler in China. His father, Niccolò Polo, and his uncle, Maffeo Polo, had made (1253–60) a trading expedition to Constantinople. A war blocked their return, and they journeyed eastward to reach Kublai Khan's eastern capital at Kaifeng in 1266. They returned to Venice in 1269, and in 1271 they left with Marco for Kublai's court. The party reached Cambuluc (modern Beijing) in 1275. Marco Polo became a favorite of the khan, who employed him on business in central and N China and in the states of SE Asia, including India. For three years he apparently ruled a Chinese city (Yangchow). In 1292 the travelers, acting as escort for a wife of the khan of Persia, left Kublai's realm and were back in Venice in 1295. Marco Polo soon joined the Venetian forces fighting Genoa and was taken prisoner (1296). During his two-year captivity he dictated an account of his travels. The prologue of the work tells of Polo's life. The remainder of the book describes places he had visited and heard of and recounts the customs of the inhabitants. Polo made reference to much of Asia, including the Arab world, Persia, Japan, Sumatra, and the Andaman Islands, and to E Africa as far south as Zanzibar. He told of paper currency, asbestos, coal, and other phenomena virtually unknown in Europe. Polo was wonder-struck at Asian splendors and was sometimes credulous of exaggerated accounts, but scholars agree that his accurate reports of the events he witnessed and people he met are of great value. During the Renaissance it was the chief—almost the sole—Western source of information on the East, and until the late 19th cent. there was no other European material on many parts of central Asia. Of the annotated translations of his book the most useful is that by Sir Henry Yule (3d ed. 1903).

See studies by M. S. Collis (1960), H. H. Hart (1967), C. A. Burland (1970), and J. Larner (1999).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Marco Polo

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Did Marco Polo Go to China? » Read Now
by Frances Wood. 188 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
2.

Explorers' Maps: Chapters in the Cartographic Record of Geographical Discovery (Chap. I "Marco Polo and the Mapmakers") » Read Now
by R. A. Skelton. 337 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

China and the West: A Sketch of Their Intercourse (1925) (Chap. V "Marco Polo, the Early European Missionaries, and the Fall of the Mongols") » Read Now
by W. E. Soothill. 219 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
4.

The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy (Chap. XX "Marco Polo's Millions") » Read Now
by Michael Prawdin, Eden Paul, Cedar Paul. 587 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

Imagining the World: Mythical Belief versus Reality in Global Encounters ("Marco Polo: Paradise in the East" begins on p. 106) » Read Now
by O. R. Dathorne. 241 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This is a study of the manner in which certain mythical notions of the world become accepted as fact. Dathorne shows how particular European concepts such as El Dorado, the Fountain of Youth, a race of Amazons, and monster (including cannibal) images were first associated with the Orient. After the...
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This is a study of the manner in which certain mythical notions of the world become accepted as fact. Dathorne shows how particular European concepts such as El Dorado, the Fountain of Youth, a race of Amazons, and monster (including cannibal) images were first associated with the Orient. After the New World encounter they were repositioned to North and South America. The book examines the way in which Arabs and Africans are conscripted into the view of the world and takes an unusual, non-Eurocentric viewpoint of how Africans journeyed to the New World and Europe, participating in, what may be considered, an early stage of world exploration and "discovery." The study concludes by looking at European travel literature from the early journeys of St. Brendan, through the Viking voyages and up to Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville. In all these instances, the encounters seem to justify mythical belief. Dathorne's interest in the subject is both intellectual and passionate since, coming from Guyana, he was very much part of this malformed Weltschmerz.
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6.

The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia ("Marco Polo's Journey" begins on p. 304) » Read Now
by Rene Grousset, Naomi Walford. 720 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
7.

The Rise and Splendour of the Chinese Empire (Chap. XXVII "Marco Polo") » Read Now
by Rene Grousset. 336 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
8.

Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance: South India through European Eyes, 1250-1625 (Chap. 2 "Marco Polo's India and the Latin Christian Tradition") » Read Now
by Joan-Pau Rubies. 443 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book is a major contribution to the study of the encounter between Europeans and non-Europeans in the early modern period and to a neglected aspect of the cultural transformation of Europe throughout the Renaissance. Focusing on European travelers in India and their analysis of Hindu society...
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This book is a major contribution to the study of the encounter between Europeans and non-Europeans in the early modern period and to a neglected aspect of the cultural transformation of Europe throughout the Renaissance. Focusing on European travelers in India and their analysis of Hindu society, politics and religion, it also offers a detailed and systematic study of the variety of travel narratives describing South India from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries. In addition, the book proposes a novel approach to the study of European attitudes toward non-Europeans.
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9.

The Rise of the Medieval World, 500-1300: A Biographical Dictionary ("Polo, Marco (c. 1254-1324)" begins on p. 350) » Read Now
by Jana K. Schulman. 500 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Beginning in 500 with the fusion of classical, Christian, and Germanic cultures and ending in 1300 with a Europe united by a desire for growth, knowledge, and change, this volume provides basic information on the significant cultural figures of the Middle Ages. It includes over 400 people whose...
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Beginning in 500 with the fusion of classical, Christian, and Germanic cultures and ending in 1300 with a Europe united by a desire for growth, knowledge, and change, this volume provides basic information on the significant cultural figures of the Middle Ages. It includes over 400 people whose contributions in literature, religion, philosophy, education, or politics influenced the development and culture of the Medieval world. While focusing on Western European figures, the book does not neglect those from Byzantium, Baghdad, and the Arab world who also contributed to the politics, religion, and culture of Western Europe.
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10.

A Short History of China (1928) (Discussion of Marco Polo begins on p. 172) » Read Now
by Edward Thomas Williams. 670 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
11.

Conquest by Man (Discussion of Marco Polo begins on p. 380) » Read Now
by Paul Herrmann, Michael Bullock. 455 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
12.

The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus ("Marco Polo" begins on p. 693 and "The Work of Marco Polo" begins on p. 698) » Read Now
by Washington Irving. 735 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
13.

The Lure of Xanadu: Ever since Marco Polo First Told the Story of His Visit to the Court of Kublai Khan in the 13th Century, the Silk Road Has Inspired Generations of Writers and Storytellers, in Geographical » Read Now
by Barnaby Rogerson. 5 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
14.

Late, Great Geographers: Marco Polo (1254-1324), in Geographical » Read Now
by Geographical. 2 pgs.

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