What We're Reading

Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu

Author: Laurence Bergreen
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
$28.95 Cloth (415 p.)
ISBN: 9781400043453
B&T        MAJORS       YBP


Reviewed by Marcia Amidon Lusted, Statusing

Like most people, my knowledge of Marco Polo was limited to vague "facts" about how he introduced paper currency to Europe (true) and pasta to Italy (false), how he returned to Venice after years away with gems sewn into the lining of his Mongolian cloak (also true), and that he lent his name to a game we played at the town beach every summer. After reading Bergreen's biography of Polo, I felt like I could at least begin to comprehend what an amazing traveler he was.

The world today is much smaller than it was in 1271 when Marco Polo set out with his father and uncle for the kingdom of the legendary Kublai Khan in Asia. We routinely see even the most remote places through television and the Internet, but Marco Polo saw things in his extensive travels that the world barely believed when he later spoke of them, including the amazing cities and civilizations along the Silk Road, the riches of the Mongols, and the technology of China. When Polo returned to his home in Venice after more than twenty years, and eventually teamed up with a writer named Rustichello to write his memoirs, he was often scoffed at for making up the sights he describes in his book. Most of what he saw and described would eventually be proven true by more modern scholars.

Bergreen writes about Marco Polo in a readable, accessible way, often letting us read about Marco's experiences in his own words, while adding the necessary references and explanations. Unlike some biographical accounts where one wades with difficulty through the book because the subject matter is interesting, Bergreen has managed to portray Marco Polo in a way that is both fascinating and satisfying to read. It's definitely a worthwhile book and it creates a portrait of Marco Polo that is much richer than any of the miscellaneous things you might have "learned" about him in the past.