Marco Polo

From Venice to Xanadu

By: Laurence Bergreen

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

"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)

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

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.

Amazing review of Polo's travels and relevance

This recording very much met my expectations. Marco Polo lived an amazing life, and Bergreen has arranged it in an amazing way here, revealing his masterful understanding of Polo's life and writings. The narrator was a good match for the subject. I was never bored, with such a wide range of subjects involved.

A View into a World that is rarely seen.

I have been reading a understanding the world of the medieval ages, and though I start with the crusades and ended up learn about the mongols. One can say that the Mongol empire was ahead of it’s time in Science, Culture and Warfare.
In this book, you not only see what Marco Polo saw at that time, but also have a glimpse into a time of mystery, wonder, and most of discover! For Marco goes into a detail of the vastness of Mongol Empire and the world around it!
Truly an excellent book for those that to know more in detail of pinnacle moments of Medieval Age!

I learned much, and found it highly engaging.

I have little more history than was taught to me high school. This was a great "read", and covers things at a depth that was accessible and informative

Not What I expected But Fascinating Anyway...

I thought this was going to be a translation of Marco Polo’s writings on his travels. But in many ways, Bergreen’s book was more what I needed, not what I expected. A great and thoroughly engaging commentary with many quotes from Polo’s works, this book is an excellent introduction to the life & times of one of the most intrepid traveller of all times.

great book, great history. everyone should listen

narrative was boring but the story was awesome! Good book for anyone interested in history

Marco the Traveler, Great Story

Narrator is good, no complaints.

The story is very good and will surprise you on the nature of Polo's time in Asia. He was with his father and uncle the entire time, but it's only because Marco was bored and in a Genovese jail as a prisoner-of-war that we know this story. He father and uncle wrote no story, we just know Marco's story.

Marco went to Asia as a teenager and came back to Venice as a man, nearly 40 years old. Amazing story to follow.

Thorough account of Marco Polo

I really liked this book and learned a lot. I wanted to listen to this because I realized I knew nothing about Marco Polo. I choose this writer's book because I liked his book on Columbus.