Marco Polo: History's Great Adventurer

Part of the Historical Notebooks series, this evocative guide to Marco Polo's journeys pairs new text with excerpts from The Travels of Marco Polo. Antique map reproductions demonstrate the limited geographical knowledge available at the time, and original drawings emphasize the arduous nature of his travels, which took him across Persia and Afghanistan, through the Gobi Desert, to Xanadu (where he met Kublai Khan%E2%80%94who would employ him as a spy), and across the Arabian Sea. Twist combines flaps, minibooks, and informative sidebars to paint a portrait of the man whose insights inspired readers in his time to see the world as "a bigger and more interesting place." Ages 8%E2%80%9312. (Mar.)