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by: William Dalrymple
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780006544159
ISBN: 0006544150
Label: Flamingo
Manufacturer: Flamingo
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 1999
Publisher: Flamingo
Sales Rank: 563142
Studio: Flamingo
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Jerusalem to Xanadu on $1100
William Dalrymple travelled 12,000 miles overland from Jerusalem to Xanadu in order to retrace the journey of Marco Polo, and I think the Venetian probably had the easier trip--- in 1271 Marco Polo didn't have to smuggle himself along the Silk Route by burrowing into the back of a coal truck.
The author calls his journey a `quest' rather than a `vacation,' since it involved not only a goal, but also a great deal of hardship and suffering. However "In Xanadu" is an excellent book ... Read More
Rating: - A modern-day epic journey
This is an excellent first book by someone who's made quite a name for himself in travel writing - William Dalrymple. "In Xanadu" relates his journey following in the footsteps of Marco Polo to Xanadu, the old capital of the Mongolian empire. This was accomplished while he was a student at Cambridge and he got the idea because this was the first time most of the Karakorum highway was open to travellers, enabling him to follow about 80% of Polo's route for the first time in centuries.
The ... Read More
Rating: - In Xanadu
I enjoyed the reviews of this book, pretty funyy. This is a pretty good travel book; I like travel writing and have read a lot of it. Dalrymple's work is as good as anyone else. In addition to this, I recommend Caroline Alexander's "The Way to Xanadu." Dalrymple follows Marco Polor to Xanadu; Alexander follows Coleridge. Both end up at the same place, but follow very different routes to get there. Dalrymple follows Marco Polo's route along the silk road and he shares some pretty interesting history ... Read More
Rating:  - a total mess
I bought this after reading Dalrymple's Age of Kali. Sadly, as excellent as that book is, this one is a total mess. First of all, there is way way too much extra info on things unconnected to Polo's trek along the Silk Road. You basically need a degree in the History of the Middle Ages to figure out the obscure references. I got the idea Dalrymple was showing off. Considering he supposedly knows all this arcane stuff, how come this obvious well-educated guy spends much of his trip searching for people who ... Read More
Rating: - An Amazing First Book
Erudite,funny, exciting, and amazing in its author's breadth of knowledge - especially considering his youth. Much enhanced by the attitudes of his female co-adventurers.
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