Respected historian and travel writer John Man tells the remarkable story of the world's most famous traveler—Marco Polo—and the moment when East met West for the first time
Marco Polo’s late 13th-century journey from Venice, through Europe and most of Asia, to China is one of the most audacious in history. His account of his experiences, known simply as The Travels, uncovered an entirely new world of emperors and concubines, great buildings—"stately pleasure domes" in Coleridge’s dreaming, huge armies, and imperial riches. He revealed the wonders of Xanadu, where the emperor Kublai Khan spent his summers. His book shaped the West’s understanding of China for hundreds of years, inspiring Christopher Columbus, who was aiming for Kublai's China when he stumbled on America. John Man traveled in Marco Polo's footsteps to Xanadu, in search of the truth behind his stories; to separate legend from fact. He takes readers across north China to Xanadu, then to Beijing and through modern China, where Marco Polo's journey's can still be traced. Drawing on his own journey, archaeology, and archival study, John Man paints a vivid picture of the man behind the myth and the true story of the great court of Kublai Khan.
Ever since he related the exploits of his journey to the empire of the great khan in the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo and his stories have been the subjects of speculation, fascination, and skepticism. Then and now, a few scholars even doubt he ever reached China. Readers will find no such doubts in Man�s breathlessly admiring account of Polo�s travels and their significance. Man himself actually followed much of Polo�s route to the Chinese summer capital, Shangdu (Xanadu in Coleridge�s famous poem), accompanied by a Chinese guide and archaeologist. Of course, many of the sites witnessed by Polo are now in ruins, but Man uses reasonable speculations to attempt to re-create them as Polo would have seen them. Man�s boundless enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, and he effectively conveys the sense of novelty and wonder that Polo experienced. Perhaps this account could have benefited from a touch of skeptical questioning, but this is still a fine retelling of a great and vital adventure in human history. --Jay Freeman
Review
"John Man's engaging and diverting study of the historical Xanadu renders the truths as beguiling as the mythology . . . with a combination of travel writing, historical analysis and anecdote, Man uses Xanadu almost as a keyhole through which to describe larger events." —Scotland on Sunday
"Deploying the same lively style that attracted readers to his Genghis Kahn, Man transforms a forbidding barrier into an inviting passageway into Asian culture." —Booklist on The Great Wall
“Brilliant and utterly readable . . . Reads much like an adventure story that offers fine access to this highly detailed subject.” —Library Journal on The Terra Cotta Army
"Both an erudite and lively piece of travel writing, and an excellent read." —Sunday Telegraph
"An engaging piece of storytelling and a very companionable journey of exploration." —Guardian
I usually write non-fiction, mainly exploring interests in Asia and the history of written communication. So 'The Lion's Share', available only on Kindle, is something different - a new edition of a thriller written some 25 years ago when I wasn't sure what I wanted to focus on. It's about the 'real' - in quotes, i.e. fictional - fate of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.
Most of the time, I like to mix history, narrative and personal experience, exploring the places I write about. It brings things to life, and it's a reaction against an enclosed, secure, rural childhood in Kent. I did German and French at Oxford, and two postgraduate courses, History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (to join an expedition that never happened).
After working in journalism and publishing, I turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio. A planned trilogy on three major revolutions in writing has resulted in two books, 'Alpha Beta' (on the alphabet) and 'The Gutenberg Revolution', both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on researching in Iraq. (On the fourth revolution, the Internet, many others can write far better than me).
My interest in Mongolia revived in 1996 when I spent a couple of months in the Gobi. 'Gobi: Tracking the Desert' was the first book on the region since the 1920's (those by the American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews). In Mongolia, everything leads back to Genghis. I followed. The result was 'Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection', now appearing in 20 languages. Luckily, there's more to Mongol studies than Genghis. 'Attila the Hun' and 'Kublai Khan' came next.
Another main theme in Asian history is the ancient and modern relationship between Mongolia and China. 'The Terracotta Army', published to in 2007, was followed by 'The Great Wall', which took me from Xinjiang to the Pacific. 'The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan' (combining history, character analysis and modern leadership theory) and 'Xanadu: Marco Polo and Europe's Discovery of the East' pretty much exhausted Inner Asian themes for me.
So recently I have become interested in Japan. For 'Samurai: The Last Warrior', I followed in the footsteps of Saigo Takamori, the real 'Last Samurai', published in February 2011. After that, more fiction, perhaps.
I live in north London, inspired by a strong and beautiful family - wife, children and grand-children.
