Customer Reviews
The classic cross-cultural experience - By: , 29 Jul 2004 
Every fantastic location & creature & event described & experienced by the Polo family really existed. And yet the world still doubts the authenticity of this 13th century trader's experiences.
I have seen many of these locations & cultures for myself, some of which have hardly changed, & I continue to be amazed by the detail of his descriptions.
Barely believable adventures - By: B. Chandler, 09 Nov 2003 Marco writes well enough of his travels & you feel that you are there. You can actually follow the trail if you have a map. He describes the flora & fauna of each region & describes the economics & industry of the region.
Example: "The women of the superior class arein like manner free from superfluous hairs; their skins are fare, & they are well formed."
It is interesting to see how little has changed from Marco Polo's 13th century & now.
Makes Survivor Participants Look Like Wusses - By: Bruce Kendall, 01 Dec 2002 This volume will enthrall anyone interestedin true adventure. Marco Polo was the original Indiana Jones & then some. Please do not waste time on Gary Jennings' The Journeyer. This is the real deal & needs no dramatic embellishments.
The Travels takes you on a trip from 13th century Venice to "Cathay" & back again. You will learn how Europeans found out about fireworks, paper currency, printing & pasta. The harrowing journey across the Gobi desert is particularly well reported.
Marco Polo was more than an explorer. He was one of the world's first anthropologists. This is an exciting read, an account of how medieval Europe initially perceived China & the far east, & of how the Mongol rulers & Chinese emperors perceived them. Highly recommended. As to the print quality of Penguin editions, which some have denigrated, I have had my copy since the early eighties & it has yellowed only slightly. Viking is now printing on acid-free paper. One must remember that these editions were printed primarily to reach the widest audience for the least amount of expense at the time. For years, Penguins were accessible to students & to the collector who couldn't afford an elaborate, fully illustrated, fully mapped volume of a particular work. I couldn't have read as many of them as I didin my late teens & early twenties if that were not the case. I owe a lifelong debt to the editors for their efforts. I've also never read a bad translationin any Penguin Classic.
