Marco Polo

From Venice to Xanadu

By: Laurence Bergreen

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

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 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.©2007 Laurence Bergreen; (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"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

Fascinating

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Outstanding story for history buffs.

What other book might you compare Marco Polo to and why?

Similar to Columbus books. This book held my interest and I'm not usually a fan of World History.

Great book!

I really enjoyed this book. It tells the Marco Polo story in the broader context of it's time with a lot of additional explanations from a modern point of view. It is thus important to note that this book is not a literal version of Marco Polo's original work. It uses the original work and corroborates this with other available information from other sources. This provides a much more understandable account the work. The original work for example will have many names of places that are not known to the modern reader. The original work also refers to many things and institutions that are 'normal' to readers of the middle ages, but unknown to us. So being, the original work is a lot harder to understand (at least for me). In many cases, the author explains certain phenomena that Marco Polo describes in his travels, but didn't know what it was back then or wrongly interpreted the facts. In such cases, the modern author explains Polo's descriptions through a modern lens (such as 'the singing dunes'). I find this really fascinating, because back in the middle ages, many of the claims in Polo's book were considered fabrications, but as time went by, there are many scientific explanations to describe the things he wrote down (even if Polo didn't understand them, he wrote them down in a way that modern scientists know what he was talking about). The singing dunes is a typical example of this, but there are many more! A downside of this way of writing however, is that it is not always clear to me as the reader if a particular point of information comes from Marco Polo as a source, or if it is inserted by research or other sources that the author refers to. Nevertheless, I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the fantastic travel tales by Marco Polo.

very well done book 10/10

I read Marco Polo's book years ago and enjoyed it. This particular book has a fabulous compliment of historical context and information about Marco Polo's life from beginning to end. I will probably reread this in the years to come.

enlightening commentary

A blending of history, commentary, andand narration of marco polo travels, which I preferred to reading the original account. I was interested in learning more historical context about this Household name. Success!

Very enjoyable and informative

Marco Polo comes alive. I learned much about him, the areas, the times...most enjoyable. The reader has a very soothing, enjoyable voice.