Marco Poloa s Book

Marco Polo and his book

may seem to have been well served by scholars, yet the majority have been concerned to write about his travels in Asia, what he did or did not see, and how useful he is as a source on the East.

John Critchley's focus

is the text of Polo's book itself and the political and ideological context - the crusades, the Mongol missions, the French presence in Italy - in which it was put together by its author(s), and read by its audience.

Analysis of the text

The homogeneity of the 'original' Franco-Italian text and the accepted relationship between this text and the Latin recensions is tested by computer analysis.

An examination of vocabulary and other textual features draws out the different attitudes and contributions of Polo himself and his various editors and translators.

Significance of Critchley's work

Critchley's book will be of interest not only to those concerned with the history of later medieval Europe but also to specialists in medieval Asia, who will find it useful to know about the background and composition of so famous and frequently cited a work.