Marco Polo

Join the 13th century merchants Marco, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo as they journey from their native city of Venice to the faraway land of Cathay, or China. There, young Marco will meet Kublai Khan, the ruler of the vast Mongolian empire. Read about his many adventures serving the Khan in the lands East of Europe, and his adventures coming back home to Venice. This medieval book, dictated by Marco while imprisoned in Genoa, was one of the inspirations of the Age of Exploration during the Renaissance, and it still intrigues readers today to learn of the Polo's adventures in the far East.

From Goodreads: David Leavitt brings the wonders and mysteries of Florence alive, illuminating why it is, and always has been, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The third in the critically-acclaimed Writer and the City Series-in which some of the world's finest novelists reveal the secrets of the cities they know best-Florence is a lively account of expatriate life in the 'city of the lily'. Why has Florence always drawn so many English and American visitors? (At the turn of the century, the Anglo-American population numbered more than thirty thousand.) Why have men and women fleeing sex scandals traditionally settled here? What is it about Florence that has made it so fascinating-and so repellent-to artists and writers over the years? Moving fleetly between present and past and exploring characters both real and fictional, Leavitt's narrative limns the history of the foreign colony from its origins in the middle of the nineteenth century until its demise under Mussolini, and considers the appeal of Florence to figures as diverse as Tchaikovsky, E.M. Forster, Ronald Firbank, and Mary McCarthy. Lesser-known episodes in Florentine history-the moving of Michelangelo's David, and the construction of temporary bridges by black American soldiers in the wake of the Second World War-are contrasted with images of Florence today (its vast pizza parlors and tourist culture). Leavitt also examines the city's portrayal in such novels and films as A Room with a View, The Portrait of a Lady and Tea with Mussolini.