- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC (December 1964)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0710021089
- ISBN-13: 978-0710021083
- Shipping Weight: 789 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
On motorcycles, thenOxford undergraduate Severin and two friends set off to retrace Marco Polo's 13th century journey through Asia. Using Polo's journal The Description of the World as their travel guide, the three, calling themselves the Marco Polo Route Project, attempted to prove the accuracy of the Venetian explorer's much-suspect tale, and succeeded in solving such mysteries as Persia's "apples of paradise" and the hidden Sejak Su (hot springs) of Turkey. With an appeal for history buffs as well as adventure seekers, the account describes the escapades and mishaps of amateur explorers as much as it does the reconsideration of a historical event. Published over 20 years ago in Britain, the book was Severin's first, and is not equal to his later titles, including The Brendan Voyage, a chronicle of his excursion by boat from Ireland to America. Photos.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA Severin, 20, and two companions set out to visit the same countryside that Marco Polo had described 700 years earlier, hoping to verify his observations. This account of their mishaps and sheer fun should fascinate high-school students. On two motorcycles equipped with side cars, they retrace Polo's overland journey from Venice across Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan, surviving crashes, sandstorms and floods, language problems, jail stays, and exotic foods. With his broken foot in a cast, Tim rides a camel through the Deh Bakri Pass with guides whom he comes to suspect are drug smugglers, and he tastes ``apples of paradise.'' Through this exciting travelogue, readers will come to know the people, the land, and the history as well as the three adventurers, all of whom are now Oxford graduates and professional writers. Lee Kobayashi, St. Francis Day School, Houston
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great adventurer's first adventure, May 7 2012
By John L Murphy "Fionnchú" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Tracking Marco Polo (Hardcover)
This spirited tale tells of the trio who left Oxford, as undergrads, to seek the path of Marco Polo in 1961. Tim Severin asserts that nobody had tried to follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo, ever since that journey in the 1260s. Severin wrote this soon after his return from the frontiers of Afghanistan, and it appeared in 1964 originally.After his fame with voyages in the paths of Brendan and Sindbad among others, he presumably accrued enough cachet to have this early account republished. It's brief, for the "Marco Polo Route Project" as they christened themselves and garnered sponsorships, took off with vigor but could only go halfway on the 10,000 miles that the Polos covered, as they could not obtain permission to enter China. With few supplies (if far too many as they found on a rough road), they set off blithely.
It moves rapidly, and there's not a lot of surprises. I enjoyed the book, but it's inevitably somewhat anticlimactic as the destination will be left unfulfilled. That's not to say it's dull for in the spirit of intrepid British adventurers, the trio manage to ride their BSA motorcycles (and sidecar) precariously across the Alps, Yugoslavia, and into Turkey. The highlights here are seeing the Tito regime's statue to the Unknown Partisan Fighter, rendered to them as "The Ignorant Peasant" and the hospitality shown them by their Istanbul host Arghun and his family. Severin's affection for that vast city is infectious, as is the wonderful, thrilling saga of their later visit to the legendary Valley of the Assassins.
Here, however, Severin breaks his foot. The rest of the tale moves in less dramatic if no less harrowing fashion. He sought to try to prove Marco Polo's claims to find, say, buckram, a hot springs of sulphur, a Persian hidden orchard, or "the apples of paradise" among other mentions in the "Travels." Severin argues that such sights were those in the chronicle, and that, logically, Polo took pains to include the more noteworthy places he saw, and to leave out the more mundane along the long way. Severin as expected intersperses snippets from Polo's report with the trio's own findings, in efficient fashion.
Severin closes by reviewing the impact of his own journey. Leaving the beaten track into the surprises, Severin notes how this venture took the trio into "fresh scenes and unlikely events." And, doing so helped the British students verify Polo.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute treasure, Mar 24 2012
By wildinspired - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Tracking Marco Polo (Hardcover)
I picked up this book in a hostel and have cherished it ever since. A sensational, informative, and hilarious account of an explorer with one foot in the mythical past, and one in modern reality. This is seriously one of my favorite books!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still Relevant. Great adventure, Jun 19 2011
By Michael J. Svoboda - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: Tracking Marco Polo (Hardcover)
Tim Severin always makes non-fiction as interesting as fiction. This book is his first travel narrative written when he was only 22. He describes the people, places, things, he meets along the route once traveled by Marco Polo, and we feel like we're experiencing them too. This book was written in 1962 and ironically, the outdated parts (Iran being refered to as Persia), make the book more interesting rather than date it. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading about unfamiliar and unusual people and places. Enjoy!
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