Great Princes, Kings, Knights and People of all degrees who desire to get knowledge of the sundry regions of the World, take this Book and cause it to be read to you. His fame comes rather from his luck in being on the wrong side during a minor war between Venice and Genoa, and thereby finding himself in prison with the novelist Rustichello, a writer known to be not above a little embellishment. But even if Marco Polo travelled as widely as he claims, he would not by any means have been the first European merchant to reach the Far East. This book is famous as the first European description of China, the book which inspired Christopher Columbus to try to reach Asia by sailing into the west. The original, squashed down to read in about 25 minutes (Il Milione: Le divisament dou monde / The Million: A Description of The World) The Hundred Books - The Travels of Marco Polo
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