World History Biographies: Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World

World History Biographies

by Nick McCarty

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.

Genres: Biography, Medieval, Nonfiction, History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 2006

About the author

Nick McCarty is a playwright and scriptwriter whose credits include The Wolf Road and series for UK television. Nick has written many plays and book adaptations for radio.

Reviews

[I am very smart · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are too many pages in this book！
I am only 10 years old.

[Diego Elizalde · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I would have to choose a person to be in the Middle Ages should be Marco Polo, sometimes called 'the Milone', for the thousands of stories he would tell to his friends about the far East. I highly recommend short bios like this.

[Reelika Raimet · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://raamaturiiulike.wordpress.com...

[JoséMaría BlancoWhite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Large type and small illustrations. Seen with the eyes of a kid I think this book would just be OK. In a comprehensible, if rather simplistic way, the story of Marco Polo and his times are introduced to a young audience. But National Geographic hasn't done anything special here. Maps, there is only one. Illustrations are dull and small. Could be much better.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

G. Written by National Geographic. Very easy read and very informative.