From a master biographer, the first truly authoritative book on Marco Polo, one of the most fascinating figures in world history.

As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. He brought the riches and wisdom of China back to his native Italy?and in doing so, changed history. But, amazingly, there has never been an authoritative book about him in English for the general reader. Now, in this masterful work, acclaimed biographer and historian Laurence Bergreen brings Polo's incredible odyssey to life. From his origins as a scion of a wealthy merchant family in Venice to the inner sanctum of Kublai Khan's extravagant palace, here is the tale of one of history's most fascinating characters told in sumptuous detail. We first meet Polo as a callow young man, beholden to his father and uncle. We watch him grow in confidence and experience as he gains the trust of the world's most feared and reviled leader. As we see this unlikely mentorship unfold over two decades, we learn about the culture and customs of the Khan, and Polo's uncanny ability to adapt himself to them. Exceeding his mercantile ambitions, Polo became a diplomat, soldier, and even government official in this foreign land. This is also the story of Polo's collaboration with the famed writer Rustichello of Pisa, who immediately saw in Polo the story of a lifetime. A genius at observation, Polo's descriptions needed no embellishments; the result was the most popular book in Europe for the next 250 years, and the definitive text on the East until the 19th century.It was Marco Polo who dispelled the notion of non-Europeans as untutored savages, and instead described cultures more advanced than his own. The inventions he brought back with him?from pasta and paper to gunpowder and coal?set Europe on a new course and made the world as we know it.