The Customs of the Kingdoms of India

The Customs of the Kingdoms of India

Author: Marco Polo

Publisher: Penguin Group

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13:

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Gleaned during his voyage along the coasts of India, Marco Polos mystified reports include the story of a giant bird that eats elephants, along with many other tales both reliable and fantastical.


Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls

Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls

Author: Marco Polo

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2015-02-26

Total Pages: 47

ISBN-13: 0141398361

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'You will hear it for yourselves, and it will surely fill you with wonder...' In this selection from Marco Polo's famous travel book, the intrepid Venetian describes the customs of India, recounts the story of the king who died eighty-four times and explains how to retrieve diamonds from snake-infested caves... Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Marco Polo (1254-1324). Polo's Travels are available in Penguin Classics.


Midnight at Malabar House

Midnight at Malabar House

Author: Vaseem Khan

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2020-08-20

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 1473685494

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*** WINNER OF THE CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER 2021 *** 'The leading character is the deftly drawn Persis Wadia, the country's first female detective. She's a wonderful creation and this is a hugely enjoyable book' ANN CLEEVES 'This is historical crime fiction at its best - a compelling mix of social insight and complex plotting with a thoroughly engaging heroine. A highly promising new series' Mail on Sunday Bombay, New Year's Eve, 1949 As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city's most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India's first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift. And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country's most sensational case falls into her lap. As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world's largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility that surrounds her, must find a way to solve the murder - whatever the cost.


Did Marco Polo Go To China?

Did Marco Polo Go To China?

Author: Frances Wood

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-06-19

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 0429980620

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We all ?know? that Marco Polo went to China, served Ghengis Khan for many years, and returned to Italy with the recipes for pasta and ice cream. But Frances Wood, head of the Chinese Department at the British Library, argues that Marco Polo not only never went to China, he probably never even made it past the Black Sea, where his family conducted business as merchants.Marco Polo's travels from Venice to the exotic and distant East, and his epic book describing his extraordinary adventures, A Description of the World, ranks among the most famous and influential books ever published. In this fascinating piece of historical detection, marking the 700th anniversary of Polo's journey, Frances Wood questions whether Marco Polo ever reached the country he so vividly described. Why, in his romantic and seemingly detailed account, is there no mention of such fundamentals of Chinese life as tea, foot-binding, or even the Great Wall? Did he really bring back pasta and ice cream to Italy? And why, given China's extensive and even obsessive record-keeping, is there no mention of Marco Polo anywhere in the archives?Sure to spark controversy, Did Marco Polo Go to China? tries to solve these and other inconsistencies by carefully examining the Polo family history, Marco Polo's activities as a merchant, the preparation of his book, and the imperial Chinese records. The result is a lucid and readable look at medieval European and Chinese history, and the characters and events that shaped this extraordinary and enduring myth.


Marco Polo Didn't Go There

Marco Polo Didn't Go There

Author: Rolf Potts

Publisher: Travelers' Tales

Published: 2009-04-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1932361715

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Marco Polo Didn’t Go There is a collection of rollicking travel tales from a young writer USA Today has called “Jack Kerouac for the Internet Age.” For the past ten years, Rolf Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far fringes of five continents for such prestigious publications as National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The New York Times Magazine. This book documents his boldest, funniest, and most revealing journeys—from getting stranded without water in the Libyan desert, to crashing the set of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie in Thailand, to learning the secrets of Tantric sex in a dubious Indian ashram. Marco Polo Didn’t Go There is more than just an entertaining journey into fascinating corners of the world. The book is a unique window into travel writing, with each chapter containing a “commentary track”—endnotes that reveal the ragged edges behind the experience and creation of each tale. Offbeat and insightful, this book is an engrossing read for students of travel writing as well as armchair wanderers.


The Customs of the Kingdoms of India

The Customs of the Kingdoms of India

Author: Marco Polo

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2007-02-01

Total Pages: 71

ISBN-13: 0141963905

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As Marco Polo (1254-1324) returned home across the Indian Ocean, after years in the service of Genghis Khan, he picked up a fabulous array of stories from sailors and merchants, about the peoples of the region, some reliable, some wholly implausible, but all fascinating. Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries – but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.


The Lost Man of Bombay

The Lost Man of Bombay

Author: Vaseem Khan

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 1529341132

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THE THRILLING NEW MYSTERY FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF MIDNIGHT AT MALABAR HOUSE 'A delightful book, well-researched, complex and hugely entertaining' ANN CLEEVES 'A twisting plot and an intriguing cast of characters, together with vivid glimpses of the vibrant, complex world of post-Independence Bombay - and a narrative that thunders along with the pace and drama of an elephant on the rampage' ANDREW TAYLOR Bombay, 1950 When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy. Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans? Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj. 'A stunning, richly imagined and downright thrilling mystery. Vaseem Khan has that rare ability to transport you wholly to a bygone time, and he does so with such skill and charm. I loved it' CHRIS WHITAKER 'A compelling historical thriller ... Codes, crime and conspiracies collide in post-colonial India' D.V. BISHOP 'One of my top reads this year. A peerless portrait of early independent India through the eyes of new crime fiction star, India's first police detective, Persis Wadia' BARBARA NADEL "The brilliant Persis Wadia is one of the most electrifying figures in crime fiction today. Vaseem Khan keeps getting better and better' WILLIAM SHAW 'Outstanding' IMRAN MAHMOOD 'This is historical crime fiction at its best - a compelling mix of social insight and complex plotting with a thoroughly engaging heroine. A highly promising new series' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'This is historical crime fiction at its sharpest' SUNDAY TIMES 'The Lost Man of Bombay is the latest outstanding entry in the Malabar House series. Persis Wadia is shaping up to be a giant of the scene - a detective as dogged and determined as any out there, with a point to prove and a chip on her shoulder as deep as it is justified. Her latest case is as beautifully written and evocative as you've come to expect from Vaseem Khan, a gripping and engrossing mystery that draws deeply on its setting and time period but nonetheless reads as fresh and original. This is a writer at the top of his game and a series that just keeps getting better' ROD REYNOLDS