New York Times Book Review

Marco Polo opened Asia to European trade, so we're told, but we generally don't know much else. Laurence Bergreen remedies that by bolstering Polo's reputation and arguing for his historical importance in a book as enthralling as a rollicking travel journal. Bergreen, who has written biographies of Louis Armstrong, James Agee and Irving Berlin, turned his attention to ancient explorers with “Over the Edge of the World,” which tracked Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe. I was a fan of that book, but “Marco Polo” far outshines it, and not surprisingly.

New York Sun

In his splendid "Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu", the well-known biographer Laurence Bergreen offers not so much a conventional biography as the lively reconstruction of a supreme adventure. To accomplish this, he has assimilated a vast body of scholarly literature in several languages. For the original sources, whether in Chinese or Mongolian or Persian, he has relied on experts from London to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and Beijing. He has woven this complicated, and often conflicting, material into a dramatic and beautifully written narrative. Best of all, he has himself retraced Polo's elusive footsteps in Mongolia and China so that as we read, we often seem to be but one step behind the inquisitive Venetian. The marvellous plates, which include color reproductions of medieval miniatures as well as spectacular photographs of the Silk Road and other exotic sites, enhance this unexpected feeling of immediacy.

Jonathan Spence, author of Emperor of China

This is an enthusiastic retelling of Marco Polo's timeless story. Laurence Bergreen draws from a broad range of the surviving Polo manuscripts to create a convincing portrait of how Marco was able to get to thirteenth century China, and of what he saw, felt and did when he got there. Readers unfamiliar with Polo's adventures will find much pleasure here.

Simon Winchester, author of  The Map That Changed the World

At last! Marco Polo comes to life! Laurence Bergreen, perhaps America's liveliest biographer, has created a triumph of fascinations, a classic portrait that now surely can never be bettered.

Booklist

[An] exciting reconstruction of the extraordinary life of Marco Polo…impressively researched and deftly composed.

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Reviews

New York Times Book Review
New York Sun Review
Los Angeles Times Review
The Providence Journal Review
The Plain Dealer (Cleaveland.com) Review
The Santa Fe New Mexican Review

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Accolades

· Book-of-the-Month Club Featured Selection November 2007
· Military Book Club Featured Selection
· History Book Club Featured Selection
· Conde Nast Traveler “New Classic” Travel Read, September 2007
· Booklist Top 10 Biographies of 2007

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Interviews and Lectures

Lewis Lapham for Bloomberg/Sirius
Authors @ Google Lecture
Cambridge Forum Lecture
WNYC Interview
AirTalk, California Public Radio Interview (Real Player)
Eye On Books Interview

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Addtional Links

Alfred A. Knopf Author's Site
Variety Magazine Article About the Upcoming Film  (PDF Download)
Mongolian Music: Khuumi Durvun Turul  Suutei Burkhan (MP3 Files)
A Word from the Author About the Book (MP3 File)
Bergreen Reads Marco Polo (MP3 File)

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Contacts

Marco Polo Interview Inquiries: gbrooks@randomhouse.com
Foreign Rights Inquiries: ssmith@randomhouse.com