Volume One of the thirteenth-century Venetian explorer’s famous travelogue, recounting his historic journeys through Asia and his encounters with Kublai Khan. In 1271, Marco Polo embarked from Venice on a voyage to China. Together with his father and uncle, he came upon the court of the Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan. After twenty years in the service of the Great Khan, the Polos returned home—only for Marco to be taken prisoner during a conflict between Venice and Genoa. While detained, Marco recounted the incredible stories of his many travels—through China, Burma, Sumatra, India, and Siam, across the Gobi Desert and the mountains of Tibet, encountering strange customs, religions, fabrics, and spices—to his fellow prisoner, the scribe Rustichello da Pisa. Marco Polo’s epic travelogue brought vivid depictions of the Far East to medieval Europe, offering a fascinating glimpse into lands and cultures previously unknown to Western scholars. The first book of this two-volume edition encompasses Polo’s journeys through the Middle East and Central Asia, and his introduction to Kublai Khan.