The fascinating and intense story of Niccolo, Maffeo, and Marco Polo’s epic odyssey across the vast expanses of Eurasia.
The powerful historic and geopolitical events that shaped their lives and charted the routes for their travels.
The epic history of the rise and fall of the Mongols, the Latin Empire, and the Silk Road, that all converged in Polo’s life and travels.

Marco Polo is without a doubt among the most famous and admired travelers, who set out on a colossal journey and chronicled everything he saw from the Middle East through Central Asia to China and India. His life was in large part shaped by his father’s and uncle’s adventures and by the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. This book narrates the story of the Polo family and how it was shaped by historic events, which were shaping the rest of the entire world at the time. The clashes of religions in the Med, the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, the fascinating story of Genghis Khan and his lineage, and the prominence of the Silk Road are all narrated in a plain and unpretentious manner.

While this is a history book, you will not find the usual academic dry, complex, formal, fact-rich text, filled with references. It is rather a light read of historically true events, which narrates a genuinely fascinating story of conquest, bravery, travel, and adventure. Marco Polo’s story is intended to be the first in a collection of books that recount the history of the world through the histories of the ultimate pioneers and adventurers and examine how they shaped our present.

The Age of Discovery series brings to life the stories of the more significant geographic discoveries, the lives of prominent travelers and explorers as well as pivotal historical events. The books take you on an epic journey from the 13th century all the way through the early 20th century when the last unchartered corner of our world was reached.

Volume I depicts the story of Marco Polo, his travels across the Eurasian landmass, and his historical adventure within China and the Mongol Empire. Setting the background for this marathon tour, the book explores the formation of the Silk Road, the rise of the Mongol Empire, contemporary tensions in the Middle East, and the wars between Venice and Genoa. It also takes a deep dive into the life of a 13th-century Venice merchant, an ordinary Mongol warrior, and the great Kublai Khan.

From Venice in modern-day Italy, through Acre in the Levant, through Persia, Pamir, the Taklamakan desert, and the lands of the Mongols; from modern-day Beijing through Burma, through China’s coast, Sumatra, Malacca, Ceylon, and back to Persia and Venice, this volume will take you on an adventurous trip that changed history and the world as was known at the time.

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