Marco Polo, Laurence Bergreen
Marco Polo, Laurence Bergreen
3 Rating(s)
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Marco Polo
From Venice to Xanadu

Author: Laurence Bergreen

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Abridged: 9 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/23/2007

Synopsis

As the most celebrated European to explore Asia, Marco Polo was the original global traveler and the earliest bridge between East and West. A universal icon of adventure and discovery, he has inspired six centuries of popular fascination and spurious mythology. Now, from acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen, comes the first fully authoritative biography of one of the most enchanting figures in world history. In this masterly work, Marco Polo’s incredible odyssey–along with the Silk Road and through all the fantastic circumstances of his life–is chronicled in sumptuous and illuminating detail.

Drawing on original sources in more than half a dozen languages, and his own travels along Polo’s route in China and Mongolia, Bergreen explores the lingering controversies surrounding Polo’s legend, settling age-old questions and testing others for significance. Synthesizing history, biography, and travelogue, this is a timely chronicle of a man who extended the boundaries of human knowledge and imagination. Destined to be the definitive account of its subject for decades to come, Marco Polo takes us on a journey to the limits of history–and beyond.

About The Author

Laurence Bergreen is the prize-winning author of Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, as well as James Agee: A Life; Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life; Capone: The Man and the Era; and As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin, each considered the definitive work on its subject. A graduate of Harvard University, he lives in New York City. Visit his website at www.laurencebergreen.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on May 05, 2018

Bergreen essentially gives us a biography of Marco with occasional passages of his original stilted language, so it’s not at all a translation of The Travels. The author provides commentary on the accuracy of Marco’s observations. It’s important to know that, for the most part, Marco made distinctio......more

Goodreads review by Roy on September 25, 2022

One of my favorite documentaries is a fairly obscure PBS production—shown to me in a university anthropology class—called In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. (It is available online.) Though released in 2008, the documentary is composed of footage collected on a 1993 journey from Venice to China, undert......more

Goodreads review by Clif on February 02, 2020

I’ve read and heard many things about Marco Polo but I have never previously read a detailed narrative about his adventures. Several years ago I tried to read a version of The Travels of Marco Polo but found it not well written and I didn’t finish. When I learned about his book I decided it was......more

Goodreads review by Howard on May 01, 2020

5 Stars for Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu (audiobook) by Laurence Bergreen read by Paul Boehmer. This is a must read for history lovers. The author does a great job putting this journey into perspective. There is a reason why Polo didn’t write about the Great Wall. The Chinese hadn’t started bui......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on March 18, 2019

Bergreen follows Marco Polo's journal, working out the history he walked through, giving some critical analysis to what was valid and what was fiction, and, playfully tying it all into Coleridge's Xanadu. There are almost endless fascinating details crying to be told here. Such as how Marco's father......more

Quotes

"As enthralling as a rollicking travel journal."
-- New York Times Book Review

"With his polished, authoritative storytelling, Bergreen makes the world of Marco Polo very pertinent."--Entertainment Weekly

"Mesmerizing . . . This is lively history that is richly detailed and destined to be the definitive account of Marco Polo and his adventures for decades to come."
--Tucson Citizen

"Illuminating . . . A window into the most exotic of places and times."
--St. Petersburg Times

"Fascinating . . . A constant surprise and delight."
--The Plain Dealer

"[An] exciting reconstruction of the extraordinary life of Marco Polo . . . impressively researched and deftly composed."
--Booklist

"This is an enthusiastic retelling of Marco Polo's timeless story. Laurence Bergreen draws from a broad range of the surviving Polo manuscripts to create a convincing portrait of how Marco was able to get to thirteenth century China, and of what he saw, felt and did when he got there. Readers unfamiliar with Polo's adventures will find much pleasure here."
--Jonathan Spence, author of Emperor of China

"At last! Marco Polo comes to life! Laurence Bergreen, perhaps America's liveliest biographer, has created a triumph of fascinations, a classic portrait that now surely can never be bettered."
--Simon Winchester, author of The Map That Changed the World

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