At the age of seventeen, Marco Polo left his Venetian home on a continent-spanning adventure that lasted for nearly a quarter century.
Imprisoned in Genoa five years later, he collaborated with Arthurian romance writer Rustichello of Pisa on a work they called The Description of the World. That book recounted 'all the greatest marvels and great diversities of Greater Armenia, Persia, the Tartars, India, and many other provinces', a story that made Polo famous for all time.
In Marco Polo and His World, Sharon Kinoshita brings these marvels to life, describing the myriad commodities, plants, people, and animals that Marco encountered and recorded. Copiously illustrated, this book offers a vibrant introduction to Marco Polo's astounding adventures.
By:
Sharon Kinoshita
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781789149371
ISBN 10: 1789149371
Series: Medieval Lives
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 01 January 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1 Marco Polo and His World 2 The Book of the Great Khan 3 The Book of Marvels 4 Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Merchants and their World 5 Portrait Gallery: Marco Polo's Contemporaries Afterword References Select Bibliography Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index
Sharon Kinoshita is professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her many publications include an annotated translation of Marco Polo's Description of the World.
Reviews for Marco Polo and His World
'An excellent general introduction to Marco Polo . . . Kinoshita provides much-needed elegant and imaginative discussions of historical contexts, in terms of people, places and activities in different parts of the world in Marco Polo's time, as a way of bringing Polo and his work to life.' – Margaret Kim, Professor, National Tsing Hua University
