Marco Polo: The Incredible Journey

by Robin Brown

Marco Polo is the greatest explorer the world has ever seen, yet on his deathbed in 1324 he 'I have not told the half of those things that I saw.' As a youth of seventeen, Marco began his epic journey through Armenia, Arabia, India and China. Yet for centuries many scholars simply did not believe his incredible stories. In this book, Robin Brown rescues Marco Polo from the lampooned clown figure he became, and reveals the utter uniqueness of his daring adventures.

Born in Venice in 1254, Marco began his travels when his explorer father took him off into the great unknown 'East'. Some twenty years later, Marco returned to Venice filled with tales of the wonders he had black stones which burned with a bright flame, coconuts, paper currency and crocodiles. While imprisoned in a Genoa jail he composed a book of his adventures, A Description of the World, with fellow prisoner, Rusticello. The work earned Marco Polo the title 'The Father of Geography' and Christopher Columbus even took a copy of it on his voyage to the new world. But it also generated much controversy and, to many, Marco became known as Marco of the Millions - a teller of a million tall tales.

Marco's manuscript has long since disappeared and it is from copies and translations that we can learn of his time as the ambassador of the ruthless dictator Kublai Khan, his travels to Vietnam, Java, India and Arabia, and his exploration of China. But did this intrepid Venetian really become the first European to cross the continent of Asia? Did he escape death by offering to deliver the Khan's daughter as a bride to the Caliph of Baghdad? Robin Brown examines the truth of Marco Polo's claims and gives us a wholly new view of the man who made history happen.

230 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The who, what and where of Marco Polo remains quite patchy, even into the twenty first century. More well known sixteenth century pioneers such as Ferdinand Magellen, Christopher Columbus or Francis Drake are much more well known. It is interesting to discover that Columbus took with him on his voyages to the 'new world' a copy of Polo's book 'The Father of Geography' and of course it was the east that he thought he was to find.
Robin Brown's 'Marco Polo: The Incredible Journey' (2005) contains the three books of Polo's amazing travelogue that he undertook two centuries before the more famous voyages of discovery.
So incredible were these tales, Polo was sadly ridiculed. Yet his descriptions of places, particularly of Kublai Khan's China, as well as many other lands, animals and plants, at the time unknown to Europeans, has since been identified. From Venice he travelled through Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet to China. He also visited Vietnam, Java, Ceylon, India, Burma and Madagascar.
Although I certainly have to appreciate the historical interest and the detail of these writings, I can't say that they provide a great read.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read of 2025 is something written almost 800 years ago and yet still very interesting.

Although the original manuscript has been lost and scholars argue about which version is the most correct (there are 138 versions), the editor makes his case for the one he chose and I found it easy to read and completely fascinating.

Marco Polo describes the people, animals, plants, food, and technology that he finds all over the Middle East and Asia. He goes from place to place, saying really random things sometimes, and never failing to comment on how beautiful or ugly the women are.

It's hard to know what was true and what was made up, but people didn't believe him for hundreds of years, and it's only been in the last century that contemporary Asian sources have shown that many of the things he talked about were indeed true. I'm sure that academics love to investigate this sort of thing. For my part, I was intrigued enough to look up some things but mostly enjoyed it as an entertaining tale.

[Safwa Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to read and it tells you so much about cultures and beliefs. Additionally the geographical information is so accurate and talks about Kublai Khan in explicit details. Also you can see how white people discriminates the black and how racist they can get even at that age of time.

[Leonardo Figueiró · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting due to the historical context. But is mainly a geografical book in which Marco Polo describes the culture habits, animals, food, religion and fight types of the vast region dominated by Kublay Kahn. The last part is the best, but is too short.

[Toll_Road_Will · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear, a book that I have given up on. This could be an absolutely fascinating tale but was so difficult to follow (and the author got his King Edwards well and truly muddled, I think) In Marco Polo's time countries had different names and many cities have now disappeared. It would have helped so much if the author had included some maps so we could see where Marco was and helped us link the historic with the modern. The book appears to be a translation of an earlier interpretation(s) Now the Edwards, I thought Edward the Confessor was King of England pre 1066? Was another Edward also known by that name as well?
Mr Brown, you make your reader do too much work (and in one or two places your editor needs a good kick up the seating area)
Back to the library with this one

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't quite see what this adds to Polian studies. I felt I wanted a lot more actual information about Marco Polo outside his adventures, and I found the adaptation of his own story awkwardly written. The style chosen by the author, attempting to get under the skin of a teenager having the time of his life, didn't quite work for me. The best bits are when he describes incidents involving precious stones - but who could go wrong with emeralds, sapphires and rubies?

[Kalaivani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see the wonder in Marco Polo's voice but not as loudly as I think it must have been (Baudalino by Eco which is fantasy but probably borrows from books like Marco). But then I do not know if the original is different. Who knows...
In any case, it was fascinating to see how much the world has changed and yet remained the same when it comes to human nature.

[Venugopal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative.