The Adventures of Marco Polo (review)
2006; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 60; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2006.0816
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics
ResumoReviewed by: The Adventures of Marco Polo Elizabeth Bush Freedman, Russell The Adventures of Marco Polo; illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline and with photographs. Levine/Scholastic, 200663p ISBN 0-439-52394-X$17.99 R Gr. 4-8 Certainly an adventurer, perhaps a Chinese official, possibly a colorful prevaricator, Marco Polo is probably a name recognized by most children as the world's best-known traveler. Freedman retraces the highlights of Marco, father Niccolò, and uncle Maffeo's thirteenth-century merchant venture to the kingdom of Kublai Khan and back to their home town of Venice. The workmanlike text is considerably enlivened by substantial quotes from Marco; descriptions of Kublai Khan and his court, the wondrous city of Quinsai (Hangzhou) with its remarkably modern-sounding civic pleasures, and Indian pearl divers and pirates are particularly intriguing. The provocative issue of Marco Polo's veracity is examined mostly in a concluding chapter rather than incorporated into the main text (à la Schlitz's more successful commentary on the dissembling Schliemann in The Hero Schliemann, BCCB 10/06); Freedman himself takes no firm position on the issue, but he outlines the scholarly debate and offers reasons why critical information may have been omitted by Polo and his prisonmate scribe. Reproductions of illustrations from various copies of The Description of the World and other European and Middle Eastern medieval sources are supplemented by Ibatoulline's full-page paintings, which "reflect the different cultures Marco Polo encountered on his historic journey." A handsome Ibatoulline map of the Polos' travels is also included, though it unfortunately offers no modern equivalents for the thirteenth-century place names included. This is an attractive, if somewhat cursory, introduction that may inspire readers to check out one of several of the suggested English translations. Notes summarize sources and viewpoints on the adventurer's story and describe the history of the included art. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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