Book : Marco Polo From Venice To Xanadu - Bergreen, Laurence

-Titulo Original : Marco Polo From Venice To Xanadu

-Fabricante :

Vintage

-Descripcion Original:

Review “Sumptuous. . . . A full-blooded rendition of Polos astonishingh journey. . . . Richly researched and vividly conveyed.” -The Washington Post Book World“Fascinating. . . . Richly detailed and illuminating, a window into the most exotic of places and times.” -The Philadelphia Inquirer“As enthralling as a rollicking travel journal. . . . The world [Polo] encountered was stranger than any fable.” -The New York Times Book Review “With his polished, authoritative storytelling, Bergreen makes the world of Marco Polo very permanent.” -Entertainment Weekly As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai Kahn, where he won the trust of the most feared and reviled leader of his day. Polo introduced the cultural riches of China to Europe, spawning centuries of Western fascination with Asia. In this lively blend of history, biography, and travelogue, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen separates myth from history, creating the most authoritative account yet of Polos remarkable adventures. Exceptionally narrated and written with a discerning eye for detail, Marco Polo is as riveting as the life it describes. About the Author Laurence Bergreen is a prize-winning biographer and historian. His books have been translated into fifteen languages worldwide. His last book, Over the Edge of the World: Magellans Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, was a New York Times Notable Book for 2003 and a bestseller. He has written for many national publications including Esquire, Newsweek, and The Chicago Tribune. Mr. Bergreen graduated from Harvard in 1972. He is a member of PEN American Center, and is a trustee of the New York Society Library. He lives in New York.Laurence Bergreen is represented by the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau prhspeakers . Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter One: The Merchants of Venice Then all the charm Is broken-all that phantom-world so fair Vanishes, and a thousand circlets spread. . . . She hid from her enemies amid a seductive array of islands, 118 in all. Damp, dark, cloistered, and crowded, she perched on rocks and silt. Fortifications and spectacular residences rose on foundations of pinewood piles and Istrian stone. In Marco Polos Venice, few edifices-with the exception of one huge Byzantine basilica and other large churches-stood entirely straight; most structures seemed to rise uncertainly from the water. Marco Polo came of age in a city of night edging toward dawn; it was opaque, secretive, and rife with transgressions and superstitions. Even those who had lived their entire lives in Venice became disoriented as they wandered down blind alleys that turned without warning from familiar to sinister. The whispers of conspiracy and the laughter of intimacy echoed through narrow passageways from invisible sources; behind dim windows, candles and torches flickered discreetly. In the evening, cobwebs of mist arose from the canals, imposing silence and isolation, obscuring the lanterns in the streets or in windows overlooking the gently heaving canals. Rats were everywhere-emerging from the canals, scurrying along the wharves and streets, gnawing at the citys fragile infrastructure, bringing the plague with them. The narrow streets and passageways, some barely shoulder-width, took bewildering twists and turns until, without warning, they opened to the broad expanse of the Grand Canal, which divided one-half of the city from the other before running into the lagoon and, beyond that, the expanses of the Adriatic Sea. In winter, the city hosted Carnival (literally, the playful bidding farewell to meat before Lent). Carnival became the occasion for orgies taking place just out of sight behind high courtya