Silk Road's Greatest Travelers

Upon returning to his native Venice from a nearly 25-year journey through Asia, Marco Polo fueled the Western imagination with his tales about the splendors of the East. This lively biography follows Marco's intrepid family as they navigate the spice stalls, caravansaries, and dangers that once populated the Silk Road and enter Kublai Khan's Mongol court in China, where they served as advisors. Readers will learn about the Polos' importance as cultural emissaries at a time of limited global exchange and how Marco's account of their travels-whether fact or fiction-heralded the later golden age of exploration.

Zheng He was the commander of a vast Chinese fleet known as the treasure fleet. In the early fifteenth century, he led the fleet on seven journeys throughout the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, serving as ambassador to the barbarian nations in need of a civilizing influence. Under Zheng He's command, the Chinese treasure fleet achieved one of the most impressive maritime displays the world had ever seen. This engaging volume covers the fleet's travels, which covered more than 40,000 miles and included sea routes along the Silk Road, to cities and kingdoms from southern Asia to east Africa.

From Mali to Cairo to Mecca and beyond, Mansa Musa was known as the Lion of Mali. Now remembered as the richest person in history, his enormous wealth, legendary generosity, and lavish pilgrimage from Mali to Mecca made him a favorite of medieval Arab storytellers. However, the 14th-century leader also presided over one of the largest empires in the world during his time. This informative biography traces Mansa Musa's life, following his magnificent caravan as he traversed what remained of the Silk Road routes to become a hajji and returned to transform Timbuktu into western Africa's most famous cultural center.

Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century Moroccan adventurer and religious scholar, was one of the most ambitious travelers of the Silk Road. Scholars estimate his lifelong journeys covered no fewer than 75,000 miles. Because of his knowledge of Muslim history and laws, he was greatly respected by the Muslim rulers he visited. His geographical records helped fill in the pieces of a mysterious world, a world in which people of different regions knew little or nothing about what lay over the horizon. It was Ibn Battuta, more than any other explorer of his era, who was able to make intra-cultural introductions.