Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls

'You will hear it for yourselves, and it will surely fill you with wonder...' 
 
In this selection from Marco Polo's famous travel book, the intrepid Venetian describes the customs of India, recounts the story of the king who died eighty-four times and explains how to retrieve diamonds from snake-infested caves... 
 
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. 
 
Marco Polo (1254-1324). Polo's Travels are available in Penguin Classics.

Marco Polo (1254-1324). Polo's Travels are available in Penguin Classics.

The Customs of the Kingdoms of India

Marco Polo (1254-1324), a Venetian merchant, spent many years in the service of Kubilai Khan and in his journeys to and from the Khan's court and around the Mongol Empire picked up immense amounts of direct and indirect knowledge about Asia. After his return to Europe he became involved in fighting between Venice and Genoa, was made a prisoner-of-war and in prison met Rustichello da Pisa, who wrote down the story of Polo's adventures.

As Marco Polo (1254-1324) returned home across the Indian Ocean, after years in the service of Genghis Khan, he picked up a fabulous array of stories from sailors and merchants, about the peoples of the region, some reliable, some wholly implausible, but all fascinating. 
 
Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries &ndash; but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.

Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan

Following the overwhelming success of Great Ideas' launch, with a million sold in the UK alone, Penguin now publish a further 20 short, astonishing works of non-fiction drawn from the most remarkable writing of the past two and a half thousand years of human thinking.

Marco Polo was born in 1254, the son of a Venetian Merchant, and made his first visit to China with his father and uncle in 1271.  They spent the next 20 years in the service of the Kubilai Khan, travelling throughout the Mongolian empire.  They returned home to Venice in 1292 and towards the end of the century, Marco Polo was taken prisoner in Genoa during the Civil War.  It was probably while in prison that he met Rustichello of Pisa, a romance writer, with whom he wrote The Travels.  He died in 1324, leaving the possessions he had amassed on his travels to be divided by his three daughters.

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are. 
A profound influence on medieval Europe's view of the wider world, this thirteenth-century account of a Venetian merchant's amazing experiences in the court of the great Mongol leader, Kubilai Khan, remains one of the most fascinating tales of exploration ever written.

The Travels

Marco Polo was born in 1254, joining his father on a journey to China in 1271. He spent the next twenty years travelling in the service of Kubilai Khan. There is evidence that Marco travelled extensively in the Mongol Empire and it is fairly certain he visted India. He wrote the travels whilst a prisoner in Genoa. 
Ronald Latham has published widely on Medieval studies. He died in 1992.

Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kubilai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. The accounts of his travels provide a fascinating glimpse of the different societies he encountered: their religions, customs, ceremonies and way of life; on the spices and silks of the East; on precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts. He tells the story of the holy shoemaker, the wicked caliph and the three kings, among a great many others, evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy.

Marco Polo

Nigel Cliff

Marco Polo's voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions in the far east. His subsequent account of his travels offers a fascinating glimpse of what he encountered abroad: unfamiliar customs and societies; the spices and silks of the east; the precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts of faraway lands. Evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy, Marco's book revolutionized western ideas about the unknown east and is still one of the greatest travel accounts of all time.

Marco Polo

The Travels

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