Author(s): Michael Yamashita

Photography

Armchair travellers and history and photography buffs will thrill to this trimmer, more affordable edition of the 2002 bestseller. "National Geographic" shooter Michael Yamashita traces the footsteps of Marco Polo's fabled journey, from the Grand Canal in Venice through the mountains and deserts of Iraq and Iran, to the war zone of Afghanistan, over the Silk Road and "the roof of the world," and on to China, returning home by way of coastal Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and India. Undertaken to investigate academic doubts about the authenticity of the Venetian's first-person accounts of the Orient, the beautifully illustrated book documents the photographer's forensic confirmation of Marco's itinerary as well vivid impressions of his own adventures. The 350 photos are supplemented by a historical introduction and a precious selection of Marco-era maps and artwork. In addition to a spectacular visual travelogue over epic terrain, "Marco Polo" is also an evocative dialogue between two adventurers trekking over the same route in different centuries. Quotations from Marco's celebrated narrative, "The Description of the World", punctuate and contextualize Yamashita's texts, enriching the reader's vicarious experience of their respective travels. The author, of course, encountered his own dangers, challenges, and mishaps, including vehicle and equipment failure, adverse weather conditions, armed conflict, and religious mandates against photographing certain sites. The end result is a treasure trove of history, geography, and culture, redolent of human toil, sun and spice, opium and axle grease, breathtaking vistas and citadels of exotic civilization.