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Papal envoys to the great Khans, (Great travellers)

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In effect, this book is a highly annotated list of those Europeans sent by the Popes to deal with the Great Khans over a century, and who wrote about it when they got back. While giving some description of each one's experience, it does not go into depth on any one, and is best to get you grounded before deciding which of these original reports you need to read for further research. For the casual history reader, it will be interesting for you to learn of the hopes the Church pinned on the Mongol empire coming to the aid of Crusaders, and the development of the legend of Prester John, always receding to the East until the end of land was reached, whereupon he was transferred to Africa as the terra incognita. The writing is easy to follow without being simplistic, and covers an unusual subject.