Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Voyages and travels; Mongols; Asia; History / Asia / General; History / Asia / China; History / Asia / Central Asia; Juvenile Nonfiction / Biography ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great example of a bad Kindle book...even for free.
Let me start by saying "My bad!" if you came here from my review of the Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation).

When I bought my Kindle I was excited to instantly download two free books to start playing with it and I mentioned these in my review. I never opened this one...until now.

Mea culpa.

This is a great example of a bad Kindle book! Like all the free books, it has no linked Table of Contents. But the worst part is that Marco Polo is an incredibly complex tale filled with footnotes, editor's comments, endnotes and foreign languages accumulated over the last 600 years. That makes it impossible to enjoy (and comprehend) in the Kindle format.

I wanted to see this version because I'm now reading an incredibly good new print edition The Travels of Marco Polo: Edited by Peter Harris (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) and wanted to compare.

No comparison. Buy the print edition. You'll love it! ... Read more

Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Now in a handsome and newly revised hardcover edition: the extraordinary travelogue that has enthralled readers for more than seven centuries.

Marco Polo’s vivid descriptions of the splendid cities and people he encountered on his journey along the Silk Road through the Middle East, South Asia, and China opened a window for his Western readers onto the fascinations of the East and continued to grow in popularity over the succeeding centuries. To a contemporary audience, his colorful stories—and above all, his breathtaking description of the court of the great Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor of China—offer dazzling portraits of worlds long gone.

The classic Marsden and Wright translation of The Travels has been revised and updated by Peter Harris, with new notes, a bibliography, and an introduction by award-winning travel writer Colin Thubron. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Shocking truths of Asian culture...that inspired 700 years of debate!
"Few texts have aroused more controversy than the book of Marco Polo," notes the editor with good reason: the Asian tales that Marco Polo brought back to Renaissance Europe were absolutely unbelievable...except for the fact that most of them turn out to be provably true, especially in the context of this carefully crafted new edition.

Like many "Great Works" this is a famous title that most people (myself included) have heard of throughout their lives...but have never read. One lazy Sunday I drifted into watching a Marco Polo mini-series, which I thought was a rather silly, romanticized, sensationalized Hollywood treatment. It annoyed me, but I watched it to the end...and then ran to Amazon to find a book to get the facts.

Amazing news...the "sensationalized" mini-series barely scratched the surface of the astounding things Marco Polo reports in his actual book!

This new edition makes his fantastic voyage accessible, substantiating his discoveries with considerable new analysis. This is largely due to the contributions of Sino-linguist Editor, Peter Harris, whose unique ability to consult original Chinese texts brings a new level of understanding to this work (much as he does in his new translation of the 13th century work A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People, which relates to my field of study).

Back to the story itself, Polo was a merchant with the heart of an anthropologist. Accounts of terrain, natural resources, buildings and trade goods abound (and can be quite dry) but these are punctuated by his unusual observations of ethnicities, religions, social customs and royal intrigues.

Indeed, Marco Polo's home was less civilized than the society he witnessed in China, to the point that he often had no point of comparison. Yet, he conscientiously describes city planning, landscaping, shopping malls, hospitals, public welfare systems with job retraining, organized law enforcement, paper money, military technology and systems of management, homes with central coal heat, multi-lingual government agencies, fire departments, long distance messenger networks, paved roads, public and private parks, and much more.

And, perhaps explaining the book's centuries of commercial success, there are plenty of tales of cannibalism, polygamy, polyandry, cults of assassins, sexual behavior, dowry customs, human sacrifice, executions, funerary customs, prostitution, gambling, sport, magic ritual, strange beasts (rhinoceroses, elephants, leopards, crocodiles, serpents, the mythical Roc bird), etc.

One comes away from this book in awe of the high civilization that existed in China, and with great respect for this brave man who did an admirable job of capturing the infinite diversity of 13th century Asian life.

Read this account and share the adventures of his amazing journey!

Barely believable adventures.
A very remarkable book written in the 13th century. Many secrets were reviled when Marc returned. And may interesting explanations of things like the origin of cinnamon.

Marco writes well enough of his travels and you feel that you are there. You can actually follow the trail if you have a map. He describes the flora and fauna of each region and describes the economics and industry of the region.

Example: "The women of the superior class are in like manner free from superfluous hairs; their skins are fare, and they are well formed."

It is interesting to see how little has changed from Marco Polo's 13th century and now.

History's Mysteries - The True Story of Marco Polo (A&E DVD Archives) ... Read more

Product Description
As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai Kahn, where he won the trust of the most feared and reviled leader of his day. Polo introduced the cultural riches of China to Europe, spawning centuries of Western fascination with Asia.

In this lively blend of history, biography, and travelogue, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen separates myth from history, creating the most authoritative account yet of Polo's remarkable adventures.Exceptionally narrated and written with a discerning eye for detail, Marco Polo is as riveting as the life it describes.Amazon.com Review
Drawing on original writings and walking in the footsteps of Marco Polo himself, Laurence Bergreen's Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu is the most definitive biography of the legendary traveler to date, separating the man from his considerable myth.

Look inside Marco Polo (Click on thumbnails to see a larger image):

Marco Polo: a traditional portrait; Granger	Frontispiece of an early published edition of Marco Polo’s Travels, Nuremberg, Germany, 1477; Granger	Kublai Khan, emperor of the world’s largest land-based empire; Granger
Marco Polo commanded a Venetian galley similar to this in the Battle of Curzola; Granger	Stone carving on the Marco Polo bridge; Laurence Bergreen	Marco Polo’s vivid and occasionally misinterpreted descriptions of his travels inspired this medieval artist to depict dragons in China; Granger

Customer Reviews (40)

Needs Maps
If I could have rated it 4.5 stars I would have because there were no maps!
The book is very readable.

OK but not great
This is a good book in a basic meatloaf-and-potatoes way. It nourishes but doesn't delight. I've listened to the audiobook version four times already and although each time it gets better, it tops out at 3 stars -- i.e., just average. After listening to it the first time, I would have rated it 2 stars.

The story as it is told by the author, Laurence Bergreen, doesn't convey a sense of place in any of the many places where the action takes place. Obviously, this is a huge irony. One reads a book like this or listens to its audiobook version with the expectation of basking in the author's descriptions of Marco Polo's travels to faraway places. Having previously listened to the audiobook version of Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe," in which Bergreen succeeded in conveying a sense of place for each of the many places Magellan visited, I had high expectations for Bergreen's story of Marco Polo. Unfortunately, those expectations weren't met. What this story lacked was the type of sense-of-place treatment that Simon Winchester excels at and reliably delivers, book after book after book.

Before listening to the audiobook version I was pleased to see that Bergreen, himself, wasn't doing the reading, as his reading of his story on Magellan didn't match the high quality of his writing. The reader for Bergreen's book on Marco Polo, Paul Boehmer, was OK, but 4 stars at best.

All of this being said, Bergreen's book is informative and I learned a lot from it. It's just that the story isn't delivered in a 5-star, knock-your-socks-off way.

Interpreting old text
Credit is due to the author and his predecessors for making cohesive sense of the many versions of Marco Polo's Travels.But Bergreen could have gone farther with it.I wish he had made more specific best-guesses on locations (reflected consistently with a map) and better arranged this book in a chronological sequence.

Very useful for the layman
Upon initally sitting down to review Marco Polos Travels I originally thought it should rate a three stars - because apart from the inspiring nature of his achievements the tome was pretty darn dry. But prior to reviewing it I read this book. And it showed me how much I'd missed in Polos original.

The author - Laurence Bergreen - takes the reader back to a different time while also discussing how many of the reasons and motivations for the actions of various characters can change depending on what time the reader is in. By extensively quoting and dissection of Polos account he brings out the meaning of many phrases that may pass the layman reader by. As such this book immeasurably increased my appreciation of what on earth was going on in the original work and was worth the purchase price for that reason alone.

While some may find the book somewhat tedious in it's constant quoting from the original the fact that Bergreen has moved in a chronological fashion through the journeys of Polo eases things somewhat and if nothing else the style at least gives evidence as to the amount of research that went into this book.

If you are planning on reading the original for some sort of educational assignment I'd say this volume is invaluable and it's also good for armchair travellers such as yours truly. And if you like this also try Khubilai Khans Lost Fleet by James Delgado as it will offer even more insight into the (rough) time and space Polo was journeying through.

Well done!
Bergreen does a fine job retelling the story of Marco Polo and his extraordinary journey along the Silk Road and into the realm of the Mongolian King, Kublia Khan.You'll learn as much about Kublia Khan and the ancient far east as you do about Marco.The book really puts the significance of Marco's astounding travels into historical perspective.Anyone who reads this book will gain a much greater appreciation of what it must have been like to travel across Asia during the 13th century. ... Read more

Product Description
Marco Polo was seventeen when he set out for China . . . and forty-onewhen he came back! More than seven hundred years ago, Marco Polotraveled from the medieval city of Venice to the fabled kingdom of thegreat Kublai Khan, seeing new sights and riches that no Westernerhad ever before witnessed. But did Marco Polo experience the thingshe wrote about . . . or was it all made-up? Young readers are presentedwith the facts in this entertaining, highly readable Who Was . . . ? biographywith black-and-white artwork by John O’Brien. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Who Was Marco Polo Review
I believe this book was actually teaching me a lot about things that happened a long time ago (mostly about Marco Polo) but the book also told me about other things that happened around that time that Marco Polo was living in. In the first part of the book, it talked about Marco Polo's father and Uncle always going on dangerous quests to new lands. During their quests, they brought back many riches and treasures that not many people were they lived have ever seen before. A little bit latter, Marco finally got to go on a trip to new lands with his father and uncle. But the thing was that Marco didn't come home until 24 years later!

On Marco's journey, he visited many places including going on many adventures. The major thing that he did for a long time was to serve the emperor Kublai Khan. In his book, Marco usually exaggerated in his journals. He found riches in many places and brought some of them back when he was finally allowed to return home after Kublai Khan. In the end, I think Marco Polo had a very successful life and helped many people.

Nine-year-old's favorite in the series
I agree with reviewers who commented on other books in this series-- these are an excellent introduction to biographies and chapter books. My husband and I have read almost all of these "Who was..." books to our now 11 and 9 year old over the past year. I find them easy to read aloud and appropriately illustrated. They lead our family to deeper discussion of the person or history and politics of the time. Marco Polo is my nine-year-olds favorite bio. I found the Einstein bio to be very interesting, my husband like Darwin, my three-year-old liked Edison, and my nine-year-old son's favorite was Annie Oakley. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (12)

playful, inventive, wordless graphic novel
My children, ages 3 and 6, are both smitten with Polo, and like to read it to each other.In this playful, inventive, wordless graphic novel, Polo the dog gamely takes whatever opportunities come his way.Ladders appear and up he climbs; poles appear and down he slides; and thus does he travel the universe.The plot is surprisingly intricate, and I was tickled by how much vocabulary my little one acquired from a wordless book (e.g. scuba mask, asteroid, iceberg, and pelican).My older child is a fluent reader who usually chooses chapter books, so I was thrilled that this book got her looking closely at artwork.I'm even considering sharing the book with my 5th grade Language Arts students -- it would be a fun tool for teaching either sequencing or inference.But I would hate to ever say, "Read this book because it promotes literacy skills."Instead, I want to say, "Read this book because it's clever and fun!"

It's great. Again. And again. And again...
I started reading, well, telling this book to my daughter when she was 3. Now she's 5, and she still loves Polo. But now, she's reading the book to me. It's still fun each time, because we vary the story, depending on our mood and ideas. Would absolutely recommend!

My daughter loves it! We love it too!
This book has no text, the story is told through cheerful and brightly colored pictures.The story is very nice andvery poetic, Polo the ever resourceful little dog goes from one impossible situation to another with aplomb pulling various helpful items from his backpack to save the situation or just for the enjoyment of the many friends he makes during his travel.

We found this book at a public library for our 5-year-old daughter who at this time couldn't read by herself. She loved it and enjoyed "reading" it to us (putting the story into words and describing what was happening).
Now she knows how to read but still loves this book and as parents we can't recommend it highly enough.

Quiet time imagination
What a delightful book! This is especially enjoyable for a child's quiet time, but even we grown ups enjoy the book. The adventure can be different each time. Now you have to decide: is all of this happening to Polo or is he reading about these adventures in his book and seeing him through imagination?Either way, he's having lots of fun!

Great for a child's to imagine
This is a wonderful book for kids of all ages.My three year old just loves Polo. This book has no words/text but the pictures just captivate my son and he can just sit there flipping page after page.It is wonderfully drawn and allows a child's imagination to run.

We have sat down together and made up the dialogue at time and plan to do the same with Regis Faller's other Polo books. ... Read more

Product Description
The Far East comes alive in this activity book centered on Marco Polo's journey to China from Venice along the 13th-century Silk Road. Kids will join Marco as he travels by caravan through vast deserts and over steep mountain ranges, stopping in exotic cities and humble villages, until at last he arrives at the palace of the Kublai Khan. Woven throughout the tale are 21 activities that highlight the diverse cultures Marco encountered along the way. Activities include making a mythical map, creating a mosaic, fun with Feng Shui, making paper, and putting on a wayang-kulit (shadow-puppet play). Just for fun, kids will learn a few words of Turkish, Persian, Mongol, Hindi, and Chinese. A complete resource section with magnificent museums and their Web sites invites kids to embark on their own expedition of discovery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

We love these books!
This series is great for kids--lots of great information and hands-on science and art activities that are easy to do around the house.The reading content is somewhat difficult--more for the 4th grade and up.Even my 8th grader likes to read them!

FIVE STARS & then some!!
This has to be one of the best activity / history combinations I have yet seen.I used this book as curriculum for my homeschool, 4th, 5th & 7th grades.My two highschool age kids have even joined in the fun.

There are fairly complex activities, such as weaving a wall hanging, and less complex ones as well, such as making yogurt.My children have thoroughly enjoyed this unit on Marco Polo.

Ms. Herbert truly makes Marco Polo's journey come alive with pertinent activities, stories, tidbits, and asides.I also love how she starts with the perpective of one individual, on a personal basis, then leans out further into history, drawing the interest of the child further & further along, to a much broader perspective, then back to one on one with Marco Polo again.Most importantly, she does NOT leave God out of the equation; rather she dances about with it, allowing parents to delve into the religious aspects as they please, to the extent they please.While religion is not an overwhelming factor, it IS taken into consideration, and I believe any religion would feel comfortable with how she has tastefully addressed it. ... Read more

Product Description
The Time Warp Trio meets Marco Polo!

What would happen if someone had a time-warping book he got from his uncle who was a magician, and he took it to the local YMCA pool while he played Marco? Polo! with his best friends? In the sixteenth adventure of the Time Warp Trio, it happens to Joe (and Fred and Sam). And what happens is sandstorms, desert bandits, a smelly camel, strange horoscopes, the emperor of all China, and one very famous explorer. If the explorer is Marco Polo, this must be thirteenthcentury China! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Funny as usual
Like all the rest of the Time Warp series this book strikes the funny bone pretty hard. Enjoyable and quick read.

The Time Warp Trio's adventures with Marco Polo
Synopsis: The story starts off with Joe finding himself in the middle of a desert. The last thing he remembers is being in the YMCA Swimming Pool swimming with Sam and Fred and playing Marco Polo with them. He doesn't recall how he suddenly appeared in the middle of a desert, and feels like this is the end for him, when who other than Marco Polo arrives to save him. Marco Polo thinks Joe is an astrologer and takes him to meet his father Niccolo Polo and his uncle Maffeo Polo. They tell him that they have seen the book Joe is looking for, at Kublai Khan's court, and that they are on their way to meet Kublai Khan. Will Joe find his friends, and get the book, especially since it turns out to be in the hands of Ding Dong, the astrologer for Kublai Khan who hates the Trio and wants them

Review: I must say this was definitely an exciting Time Warp Trio book to read.Firstly, I liked it because it was the first time (at least for me), to read the Time Warp Trio separated from one another in the time period. This kept me wondering as to how they would find one another. Secondly, I liked how the author added humor into this book by creating names such as "Ding Dong" and getting Marco Polo to play "Marco Polo". Even though this is the first book of the series I read that had Adam McCauley as the illustrator, I enjoyed the illustrations in this book, and thought they fit well with the story.

Overall, this is another nice addition to the series, and I can't wait to read more!

NOTE: The reviewer previous to mine had a complaint that pages 29-30 were missing from the book. I am pretty sure this is not a misprint and the author intended to have those pages blank. I was also a little surprised when I saw it in the beginning in my version, but after reading the chapter, I am sure they were intended to be written that way.

Buyer beware!
Our first edition copy of this book had a printer error.Pages 29 and 30 were completely blank.I sent it back to amazon and they promised me a refund.I don't know if all of the first edition books are like this, or if we were just unlucky.But if you want this book, you might consider waiting for the second edition or the paperback to come out. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Foodies will love this.
Entertaining and wonderfully clever. A great combination of a smart story wrapped around the cooking details that true foodies will relate to and celebrate. Great book for any age. Well done.

good reviews for Neil Flambe
Praise for Neil Flambé

"Good Fun" - Gordon Ramsay

"Amusing. Readers will wish they could sample his Pommes de terre a la Flambé." - Publishers Weekly

"Terrific. Kids will love it." - CBC Radio

"Recommended. Makes the reader look forward to the next book in the series." -Canadian Childrens Booknews

**** "Highly Recommended. A giggle from beginning to end." - CM Magazine

"Recommended - Easily as entertaining as Ratatouille." - Canadian Living

"Super Cute." - My Ever Expanding Library ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Great wordless book
I haven't shown my 3 1/2 year old son this book yet, it is a gift.He loved the first Adventures of Polo that we took out from the library and spent hours telling stories, I have high hopes for this book as well.The colours are vivid, new characters and scenes are continually emerging.

unleash your imagination.
We saw these books in our local library and my 5 year old child loved them so much that we decided to buy them for him. This book contains only lovely descriptive pictures . Your child can use his/her imagination and make up the story just by viewing the pictures.
It is about polo's book being taken by an 'alien' and the chase that ensues to recover the book.

Absolutely brilliant... a ten-star gem!
Regis Faller's "Polo" picture books are absolutely brilliant and magical... These fab French imports feature Polo, a cheerful, indomitable cartoon dog with a flair for improvisation, bravery and boundless curiosity... The wordless, multi-panel graphic novels recall the fantastic, breathless wonder of the old "Tin-Tin" books, only without any real sense of danger, just pure adventure, fantasy, and fun.

In this volume, Polo returns, and so do the little green men: one of them sneaks into Polo's bedroom and steals his new book, starting a chase that takes them across the oceans, up into the sky, into a weird, white Limbo and into a cloud kingdom with a delicate princess who becomes Polo's friend.Picking up other friends along the way, Polo crosses deserts and rides clouds, frees a genie and climbs a giant dandelion, like Jack climbed the the beanstalk.Finally, after seventy color-filled pages, he catches up to the little green guy, who is reading the runaway book to a group of his friends.Polo sits down to listen, and when the story is over, the green guy gives it back to him.

Polo is an amazing reading experience, and it expects as much from its readers as it gives back. Adults can guide children through the story, commenting on each panel, or summarizing entire pages, creating the narrative as they go along. Children can also spend hours alone, pouring over the panels and making up stories of their own... and they will!

Highly recommended. One of our favorite books. (ReadThatAgain)

A joy to read with my son
My 3-year old son and I found this book at a local library - I think he pulled it off the shelf simply because of its bright, colorful cover.But then we both fell in love with its wordless story.It has been fun to change the story a bit each time we explore the pictures.And it was such a joy to overhear my son "reading" the book to himself, and even adding some new dialog for the characters.I think this book is wonderful for kids who can't read yet, and a great tool for inspiring imagination.I can't wait to get the other Polo book and see what adventures lie in store.

We love it when our 5-year-old "reads" this to us
At last! A book our daughter can read to us. Or, rather, "read," because actually recognizing words and sentences is, at 5, still pretty much beyond her. But when she tells us a story, based on her understanding of pictures arranged in a narrative ---- she loves that. Makes her feel big. Smart. No wonder she says, "I'm five...but in my head, I'm seven."

Emboldened by a good first experience, we risked a second book told completely in pictures: "The Adventures of Polo", by the French illustrator Regis Faller. As with "Flotsam", this is a story that starts simply and gets increasingly --- and, from the child's point-of-view, delightfully --- complex. You might think complexity is beyond a child who can't read. If so, get this book, ask your kid to "tell me the story," and see what you get. ["Polo" is said to be appropriate for kids as old as eight. I can't imagine a kid beyond six who will respond, but you know your kid.]

Here's what "Polo" gives you: an upbeat little dog in dark pants, a red jacket and a brown backpack. The story? One zany adventure after another. And the illustrations! Vibrant primary colors make this a book of incessant good cheer. It's a pleasure just to see "Polo" on a coffee table --- the cover suggests the pleasure within.

There are five Polo books published in France. As yet, there are only two Polos available in this country. Why? It's not like they need to be translated. (In all the books, Faller has said, there are, in fact, three words.)

Not long ago, we knew nothing of Polo. Now the little guy is our daughter's new best friend. As she tells us of his adventures, we turn into goofballs and beam with pride.

This deep pleasure is, I suspect, also available in your home.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Will appeal to young readers age 7-10
Written and illustrated by Regis Faller, "Polo and Lily" is a whimsical children's book told entirely through colored cartoon pictures of Polo the tree-island dwelling pup and his cloud -traveling trickster rabbit visitor, Lily. Young readers will enjoy telling the story to themselves as carefully drawn in the sequence of pictures detailing Polo at home, gardening, fishing, cooking, setting the table, enjoying a meal, washing up, and serving cocoa to an unexpected visitor. "Polo and Lily" is the latest in a series of Polo stories, and readers are encouraged to travel to Polo's world [...]. Just when you think all the surprises are done, Polo receives a phone call from Lily after she says goodbye to him and embarks on her cloud again. "Polo and Lily" will appeal to young readers age 7-10.

Another great Polo adventure!
This book is a little shorter than Faller's other Polo tales, but the wordless story is still fun and intriguing.My four-year-old's favorite book series!

An early Polo classic
"Polo And Lily"
by Regis Faller
(Roaring Brook Press, 2004)
----------------------------------------
One of the early adventures of the ever-optimistic, cheerfully adventurous cartoon-figure dog named Polo, who travels the world and beyond always coming up with unique and inventive ways to get past every obstacle, all told in wordless but enchanting multi-panel comicbook form. This fantastic series by French author/illustrator Regis Faller is a big favorite around here, and it's nice to see the early books back in print.

In this volume we meet a character who we'll all want to see more of: Lily is a little stripey girl rabbit who rides on a cloud as if it were a magic carpet.She has a bright, smiley optimism and carefree sense of adventure that matches Polo's, and once they meet, they become fast friends.We also see the inside of Polo's groovy treehouse, a home that would make Snoopy green with envy.Part of the charm of the Polo books are their exploration of the everyday, so here we see Polo doing a little bit of gardening, some cooking and a bit of reading before he falls asleep... We also see how he gets his telephone - it's a gift from Lily -- and the story ends with her calling him up to say "hi". Although it's short in length, this is one of the most charming Polo books, and certainly a delight to read. (By the way, be sure to look for Lily later on, in the beginning of "Polo And The Runaway Book," one of the longer Polo epics: she sends him the book.

This is great stuff, built on the European tradition of imaginative, well-crafted graphic art: if your kids are too young for "Tin-Tin" or "Asterix and Obelix," maybe you can get then started with this delightful series. Highly recommended! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews) ... Read more

Product Description
He claimed to have seen rocks burn, bandits command sandstorms, lions tamed with a look, and sorcerers charm sharks while divers gathered pearls on the ocean floor. Marco Polo shook Europe with descriptions of the world he'd seen on his epic journey to the court of Kublai Khan. But was Marco Polo the world's most accomplished explorer? Had he really seen the "Roof of the World" in Central Asia, and the "City of Heaven" in far-off China? Or was he a charlatan who saw nothing more than the conjurings of his inventive mind? Join Russell Freedman as he tackles a centuries-old mystery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

fast service - excellent condition
This book was everything and more than we expected! Thank you! Super fast service and book came in excellent condition, I highly recommend buying from this seller.

For advanced readers
The artwork is beautiful and includes reproductions from medieval illuminated versions. (It's extremely annoying that you can't search inside the book, so you'll have to take my word for it.)The approach is sophisticated, leaving as an open question whether Marco Polo embroidered the truth or made up his tale out of whole cloth, and children will learn about Kublai Khan's empire, with its efficient messenger service and paper money.The vocabulary is challenging for grade-school children.

marco? polo!
Marco Polo told many tales of adventures that he went on with his family.He wrote a book called The Description of the world.To this day scholars are unsure if any of Marco's tales are true.Read this biography to see if you can decide for your self what you believe!

ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO comes to life more than your usual elementary-level biography.
Russell Freedman's THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO covers all the controversies surrounding the legendary explorer who claimed to have seen rocks burn and met bandits who could conjure up sandstorms. Marco's vivid, often fantastical descriptions of his travels shook Europe: was he a courageous adventurer, or a fake with a vivid imagination? In exploring the rumors surrounding Marco Polo, ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO comes to life more than your usual elementary-level biography. ... Read more

Product Description
Did Marco Polo reach China? This richly illustrated companion volume to the public television film chronicles the remarkable two-year expedition of explorers Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell as they sought the answer to this controversial 700-year-old question. With his epic book, The Travels of Marco Polo, as their guide, they journeyed over 25,000 miles becoming the first to retrace Polo's entire path by land and sea without resorting to helicopters or airplanes. Surviving deadly skirmishes and capture in Afghanistan, they were the first Westerners in a generation to cross its ancient forgotten passageway to China, the Wakhan Corridor. Their camel caravan on the southern Silk Road encountered the singeing sands of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. They lived with the Bronze-Age Mentawai tribes of Sumatra, where Polo was stranded waiting for trade winds, and became among the first Americans granted visas to enter Iran, where Polo had fulfilled an important mission for Kublai Khan.

Accompanied by 200 stunning full-color photographs, the text provides a fascinating account of the lands and peoples the two hardy adventurers encountered during their perilous journey. The authors' story is mirrored by remarkably similar descriptions from Polo's account of his own travels and life. Laden with adventure, humor, diplomacy, history, and art, this book is compelling proof that travel is the enemy of bigotry-a truth that resonates from Marco Polo's time to our own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A fantastic journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo
I have always been fascinated with Marco Polo. This books is terrific.
It was inspiration for my Pup Fiction tale -Barco Polo. Read it at [...]
LaMonte Heflick, Elkhart Community Schools

in the footsteps of marco polo
One of the best.It sure shows the times of today!The original journy was one that would be hard to match!

Rip roaring adventure! The ultimate in armchair travel-
Grab yourself a hot chocolate, sit back, and travel down the silk road and through all the exotic lands Marco Polo traveled in the thirteenth/ fourteenth centuries. The authors trace Marco Polo's route, starting from his home in Venice, through the middle east, Asia, Southeast Asia, and back again. In the service of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo may have been the most travelled man in history and his "Travels" brought the culture and geography of far off-lands to medieval Europeans. The two authors are the first to have traced Marco Polo's route just as he would have done it- without air travel. They spend months crossing each country, detailing modern day culture and geography while drawing interesting parralels to passages from Marco Polo's travels. The text is accompanied by stunning photographs. The author writes in a very personal, sometimes humorous manner, rather than making it overly scholastic which gives the reader a "real" feel for what the journey was like and how the different places affected the authors.

If you like ancient, medieval, and modern geography, this is a must read! The best thing about this book is that it does not sever medieval geography with modern geography but attempts to give light to what Marco Polo would have encountered while documenting the modern day culture, religion, and poltical climate of these same places. If I could ask the authors one question, after reading this book, it would be which places they daydream or think about most. Personally, I was very moved by their visit to Mongolia.

I have not read Marco Polo's "Travels," but, after reading this, it will definitely be part of my Christmas reading list. This is a wonderful tribute to Marco Polo and makes me want to read more about the silk road, as well.

ESPN Has Ruined Monday Night Football - Horray!
It's a good thing ESPN has ruined Monday Night Football.

On November 16th, 2008, after briefly listening to the longwinded, weird & obnoxious comments of Kornheiser, Tirico & The Blond Blowhard, I bolted, switching over to a PBS station - & inadvertently stumbled into the greatest thing I've seen on TV in at least the past 20 years: the video, "In The Footsteps of Marco Polo."

I didn't move for the next hour & cursed my luck that I had missed the first third of the program.The next day, I ordered IFMP, the book.

I've now read it twice, enthralled.And other than my objection to being called a "knucklehead" because I'm not buying the global warning dogma - sorry, Dennis - I have no criticisms.None.Zero.

IFMP is beautifully written.It obviously must have been edited with great care, even with love.And the photographs - taken by Belliveau & O'Donnell during their trek that recreated the journey undertaken by Marco Polo, & which illustrate the story - are enthralling.

In the complete absence of artificial light in the outback of Mongolia, at night, stand there.Look up.How many stars do you see?That's how many I'd give this book.

Oddly, the adventurers almost completely abstained from providing dates.But this worked out perfectly.Their self-elected determination was to imagine - as much as possible - that they, too, were travelers in the 13th Century.And that aim for the reader would be ruined, & their story adulterated, if the text had included the dates of the journey's events in Turkey, Afghanistan, China, etc.

Fortunately, the PBS video did feature two chronological facts: their journey lasted 712 days, & it ended on March 4th, 1995 (thank God for the dating systems in hand-held video cameras).

Their final day in Venice, as honored guests of the city, was also the eye-popping exact date of Pluto going Retrograde - the significance of which was revealed to this writer some thirteen years later.

"I haven't told you half of what I've seen"
The first to follow in his 13th c. footsteps, all 25,000 miles, two New York City explorers combine lovely photos with casual prose as they leave Venice, trek overland into China and back again. Avoiding airplanes, falling into the clutches of Afghan warlords, and enduring Canton's hellish train station, they recount their own share of adventures.

What they find is how accurate "Marco Millions'" travelogue can be when tracing his route in desolate areas still largely the same as seven hundred years ago. I liked the Karakorum setting, with haunting open landscapes you can see in their photography and their simple scenes among the Mongols. How can you resist any narrative that crosses Taklamakan, the sandy wasteland you can get in but not out of by its name, followed by the Desert of Lop? On the Yunnan-Tibet Old Tea Horse Road, similar enchantment comes with the Naxi people, who now as then cap their teeth with their wealth, in gold. The pair realize that due to assimilation and globalization, the pressure of the Han Chinese majority on ethnic minorities (as they witness with the Uighirs and Tibetans) falls upon such peoples. "These are the last days that Polo's descriptions can be witnessed," they lament. (178)

Transience permeates this book, fittingly and poignantly. A Chinese professor in Xi'an paints a pagoda for years "and it's never the same. Every minute of every day the light changes and I see something different...but more importantly...it has helped me to realize that I am changing more than my subject. When I am gone it will remain." (177)

A Cochin refuses to let them take pictures of the synagogue in India on Jew Road; the spice trade that made his people ancient merchants there has died out, and the congregation withers. Until earlier last century, those "white Jews" took slaves, converting them as "black Jews"; on Shabbat the latter had to sit on the floor of the shul. Denis Belliveau, who tells the story, cringes inside thinking of the irony of Passover seders there, but as many times, if not all, he keeps silent for his host.

Other places, he and Fran O'Donnell, ex-Marine, speak out. They talk back to their churlish Chinese and Persian handlers, and they navigate more than one police state with aplomb. They have trouble getting through Afghanistan as warned, and also in entering Iran. "We used to pray in our homes and socialize in public," one student dares to tell them. "Now we pray in public and socialize at home." (268) Suspected as CIA spies often, the travellers meet their share of difficulty, just as Marco Polo's party.

"In Xanadu, we found no there was no stately pleasure dome, no lush gardens filled with game, no sumptuous concubines. There was only a windswept plain and the remnants of an outer brick wall that once encompassed the Great Khan's summer palace. Destroyed by the Ming so there would be no memory of the Yuan-- we stood there defying them, daring to remember." (166)

In Sumatra they view the same act done by our primitive ancestors. Hunters circle a felled beast, seeking its spirit's forgiveness. This may be the oldest ritual still alive today, in such remote fastnesses as found by the pair of adventurers. In Sri Lanka, at Adam's Peak, they see its shadow cast over forty miles of a verdant plain.

Among the Khotan dunes amidst a sandy sprawl the size of Germany, Denis comes upon "a shattered tree that had drifted these waves for eons." Halting his camel, he runs his hand over the softened grain of the wood. "Maybe a child climbed this tree thousands of years ago when it was alive," he muses. "Maybe a monk meditated under its leaves when it stood in the courtyard of a Buddhist monastery of perhaps a mad Tibetan marauder was put to death and hung from his limbs." Their host, nicknamed "Grumpy" for his resemblance to a certain dwarf, "barked for his boys to start hacking at the bleached trunk, and I reflected on the tree's final demise. Tonight it would heat my bed and cook my food, completing its journey as it helped me on mine." (125)

It's easy to see how such stories endure on such a trail, and how new ones emerge. Overall, this book leaves, as Marco's did, half the tale out, I suppose. This can lead to slight confusion, as the maps as endpapers fail to show the direct routes taken, and there was in the Persian episode as they narrate some alteration of plans, and why this itinerary is not drawn on the maps appears an oversight that needed correcting. Also, I tended to lose track of how long it took them to get from place to place over two years, and I would have liked a detailed chronology on their map to keep up with their pace as it ebbed and flowed.

However, the photos are splendid and the chatty presentation, with easily read type and shaded font for the excerpts-- rather few, so I suppose Marco Polo did tell his fair share of tall tales to fill out his book-- from the original account give modern armchair travelers a thoughtful way to gain instruction from the trail here. As before, tolerance and hospitality, rudeness and danger, violence and threat fill the pages of another Westerners' journey to the Far East and all points in between. ... Read more

Product Description
Imagine the kingdom of Asia sifted through the Celtic imagination and you might think of Irish author Donn Byrne’s Messer Marco Polo, written in 1921. Audiobook producer Stefan Rudnicki and acting legend Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., were reminiscing one day about favorite childhood books, and they both recalled Messer Marco Polo as one of the best. Young Marco Polo meets Kubla Khan, the King of Siam, and St. Paul, and falls in love with the beautiful Golden Bells. After her magicians save him from death in the desert, he stays and marries her. Following her death, Polo returns to Venice as an old man. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Magical Story of Love and Exploration
This is the story of the explorer Marco Polo, as told by an Irish bard.The Irishness of the telling is as thick as the head on a Guiness Stout-- the very Irish-sounding Pope is a particular treat -- and the China of its imagining is very unlikely ever to have existed.But the love between Marco and Golden Bells, the daugher of the Khan, was the first great love story I ever encountered, and I have no more recovered from it than I have recovered from my own first love.I understand why this is sometimes categorized as children's literature.The story is simple, romantic, lyrical, a kind of storytelling that has long gone out of style.But I read this when I was sixteen, and it has remained my favorite book ever since.

"Never let your dream be taken from you," the Pope tells Marco, and if you read this at a certain age, you may be moved to tears, as I was, and am.

Romantic travel story in the traditional Irish style
A mixture of three elements give this simple tale a unique flavor.A modern Irishman tells the adventures of a Christian Italian in pagan China.Irish mysticism mingles with the mystery of the east for a romantic and tragic love story based upon the visit of Marco Polo to the court of Kubla Kahn. In one framework we have folk tale, history and imagination .His simple narrative style is a kind very rarely found among modern authors: it suggests the fireside stories and poems of the past which passed from generation to generation by word of mouth.

"A very magically beautiful book." -James Branch Cabell ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive title covers individual ball handling, passing, combination basic passing, individual fundamentals of shooting, shooting, counter attack, two-meter player and front court offense, and six-on-five extra player basic drills. Dozens of diagrams and illustrations make learning these drills easy for both coach and player. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

101 WP Offensive drills
Again a simple good book on drills needed to teach offensive plays and tactics for Water Polo = price is right

A must for all coaches
Great book. It outlines excellent drills, and the reasons for doing them. I would recommend it for all coaches and/or players looking to improve their game.

Very helpful
I am a relatively new coach, and this book is making my job a lot easier. The drills are easy to understand and useful and the book is very well organized. I always consult it when planning practice. I'm ordering the defensive book right now. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (16)

I love travel books; not his.
I love travel books; not his.
travel, scheming, attitude. solipsistic, very self-absorbed, not interesting...I have lived and worked and traveled a bit in Asia, Europe and Central America--I just don't agree with his attitude, delivery or content. I wanted to
--the title is so cool......

Great Book!
I'm really enjoying his adventures and mis-adventures, especially being a world traveler with a bit of mischief, myself!

An outstanding set of vivid travel stories
For the past ten years author Rolf Potts has taken his travel passion to the corners of the earth. This collects his funniest and most dramatic stories, from being stranded without water in the Libyan Desert to learning about Tantric sex in an Indian ashram and investigating the 'real' Australia. An outstanding set of vivid travel stories from a world gypsy traveler makes for exceptional armchair reading recommended for any general lending library.

Thoughtful man still in this world!

Well calculated writing from a man who trusts for the sake of experience. Just because dreams pop into our imagination doesn't mean we always seek them out. Rolf did and reflected his life on it.
The stories are stupendous!The end notes extremely helpful in my quest for jump starting my own carrier as a travel writer.
He's a teacher, willing to share with the world!

Document your travels
Good book.Stories about traveling off the beaten path, avoiding tourist traps and planned & canned experiences.If you have traveled alone, you'll understand this book.If you only take well planned and led tours, you'll see what you are missing. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

The Best Polo Training and Strategy Book
I wanted to know the game as the coaches are not available in my city. I am truly excited to read the book. I am sure that this book is a great asset for the polo game. The knowledge of the author Mr.Hugh Dawnayis remarkable.

Polo Player must have...
Great as a gift for polo players and other horsemen as well.Fantastic photos and game plays.A BIG book, too. ... Read more

Product Description
In a life of ceaseless exploration, Marco Polo pushed out the borders of his narrow medieval world.

Born in Venice in 1254, the young Marco Polo first met his father at age 15, when the elder Polo returned from a trading expedition to the East. The father's tales of the court of the Kublai Khan in China ignited a lifelong passion for adventure in the son.

The Polos set out for China in 1271, traveling through the Middle East, across the Gobi Desert, to Khanbaliq in China. The journey took four years. Kublai Khan took a great liking to Marco Polo, employing him as a spy throughout his vast empire. Marco traveled and observed the cultures of Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and India in this capacity. His notes later became one of the world's great travel books, The Description of the World. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Voyages and travels; Mongols; Asia, Central; Asia; Travel / Essays ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Retracing Marco Polo's journeys
Michael Yamashita used Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World (Yale Nota Bene) as a guidebook, and spent two years traveling more than 6,000 miles. He journeyed through Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Pamirs, Xanadu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Sumatra and Indonesia, and then returned to Italy by way of Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India.

Yamashita shot over 10,000 frames, a selection of which were first published in an 80-page, three-part series in "National Geographic" magazine. Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey contains 258 photographs accompanied by Marco Polo's words from "The Description of the World."

Yamashita describes the genesis of the book for AAJA:

'The idea came from a book review about Frances Wood's book, Did Marco Polo Go To China? I thought, "This is interesting. I never questioned Marco Polo."

'His name is a household name around Asia. So I thought, "Let's get to the bottom of it." I did the necessary research. The last time [National] Geographic tackled the story was in 1926. The name of the story was titled: "Marco Polo: World's Greatest Overland Traveler." I thought was a pretty catchy line.

'I thought, "Isn't that a great idea for a story? Let's prove once and for all that Marco made this trip." There happened to be a window of opportunity when you could travel through places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, which had just opened up. Iraq was always closed from the last gulf war at the time. This was 1999. We applied to all of those places, and they gave us permission to come because we were shooting Marco Polo, which was seemed like a non-political story.'

The book has proven to be a world wide best seller, and has been translated into several languages. The photography is excellent and the book itself is a delight to hold and dream about traveling, perhaps in Marco Polo's footsteps, but certainly in Yamashita's.

Robert C. Ross 2008

marco polo a photographers journey
Good photos and details.Purchased as a gift for my wife and she is totally pleased

Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey
Very facinating.I've always been interested in Marco Polo, as has the author.He really leads you through the journey and makes you wonder at the courage Marco Polo had for his travels. ... Read more

Product Description

Many people say Marco Polo was the greatest explorer that ever lived, traveling 33,000 miles by land and sea from Venice, Italy, to modern-day Beijing, China. His famous book, The Travels of Marco Polo, indicates that he was a man of extraordinary bravery, brilliance, and strength. With his uncle and father, he traveled across Turkey, Armenia, the Middle East, the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, and the hot Taklimakan Desert before finally reaching China in 1275. Welcomed by the great emperor Kublai Khan, Marco Polo was amazed by the inventions, riches, and religious tolerance of the great Khan's kingdom, where Marco remained for the next 20 years.

A talented and charming storyteller in her own right, Demi recounts the remarkable tale of Marco Polo's journey. Inspired by the eastern culture of the 13th century, she painted the book with Chinese inks and gold overlays and used a mixture of Chinese and Indian embroidery and Italian, Arabian, and Persian designs of gold and ink on silk in the borders and frames for her artwork.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

beautiful illustrations
This was appealing to me as an adult and I selected it for a gift for a child. Have not heard yet how the recipient liked it.

Facinating and beautiful
Not only is this a absolutely beautiful book, (as all Demi books are!), the story was fascinating. I hadn't really read about Marco Polo, and got this from the library for my child. It was nice to read the biography of his early life and personal details, not just the story of his travels. I like how Demi presents the question of whether Polo, and his father and uncle, actually traveled to the places they claimed, fairly. There is apparently question about this, and, as the book says, even his own relatives and friends pressured him on his deathbed to admit he'd made up the stories. However, the things he reported lead one to think he must have been telling the truth about much of it, or how could he have known such wonders existed?
In any case, the story is riveting, and the illustrations gorgeous. We all enjoyed this book very much at our house, and I doubt we could find another version told so respectfully and delicately. The historical explanations that give both sides to the question of Marco Polo's claims made a lot of sense, and yet left the book unbiased, while somehow complete. You have to read it for yourself to see if you believe some, or all, of his fantastic adventures.

This gorgeous book about Marco Polo's quest to the far reaches of the world is mesmerizing!
Marco Polo was born in 1254 in the San Severo Parish in Venice, Italy.He didn't meet his father until he was fifteen years old because Niccolo was a trader who went to far away places.In 1271 Marco went along with his father and uncle Maffeo to China on the trip of a lifetime that not only he would remember, but one that would be remembered for centuries to come.Kublai Khan, who was a very tolerant man, wanted them to bring "the holy oil from the tomb of Jesus" and "one hundred Christian Men" when they returned to China.If Christianity was the true religion, he would then know it.Pope Gregory X sent two letters for Kulai Khan.

They collected the oil in Jerusalem, along with two monks who later became afraid and left to return home.The marvelous journey did not stop at Ayas because of the Mamluks bandits, they simply continued on.They visited the site where Noah's ark had landed on top of Mount Ararat, near the Black and Caspian seas they saw "fountains of oil springing from the ground and in the Tabriz they bartered for pearls. All the while Marco was writing in his journal.He wrote about Baghdad, Kerman, the Rudbar Plain and its Karunas bandits, the Persian Gulf, the Silk Route, the Desert of Emptiness, Tunocain and on and on as they traveled through many unusual lands and saw many strange things.In 1275 they finally reached China and Khan invited them to Xanadu where Marco was later asked to be his ambassador.It would be more than twenty-four years until the Polos returned home to Venice, a place where no one, not even their families, recognized them.

The art work in this book is mesmerizing and could stand alone without the text.The story of Marco Polo and his adventures was very well written and would be easy for even the most reluctant reader to make it to the end with ease.For the price you have to pay for this book you are receiving a bargain and shouldn't hesitate to snap up a copy.As Marco Polo told a priest, "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed!"You won't believe how beautiful this book is! ... Read more