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The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Penguin Classics)
by: Sir John Mandeville

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 8 to 10 days Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.0424
EAN: 9780141441436
ISBN: 0141441437
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: March 31, 2005
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics
Sales Rank: 8746

Related Items:

The Travels of Marco Polo (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)

Life of Galileo (Methuen Student Editions) (Student Editions)

Editorial Review:

Synopsis:
Ostensibly written by an English knight, the Travels purport to relate his experiences in the Holy Land, Egypt, India and China. Mandeville claims to have served in the Great Khan's army, and to have travelled in the lands beyond' countries populated by dog-headed men, cannibals, Amazons and Pygmies. Although Marco Polo's slightly earlier narrative ultimately proved more factually accurate, Mandeville's was widely known, used by Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Frobisher, and inspiring writers as diverse as Swift, Defoe and Coleridge. This intriguing blend of fact, exaggeration and absurdity offers both fascinating insight into and subtle criticism of fourteenth-century conceptions of the world.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Travel before travel
I cannot hide my bias about this book; it is my absolute favourite. One of the major differences between ourselves and the Medieval World was the notion of the East and the concept of otherness. The World Sir John Mandeville chronicled was the World we see on antique maps, there is scant regard for topographical accuracy but a wonderful mixture of beasts and monsters. There is controversy as to whether this 'Knight' ever ventured anywhere, some even believe that the name itself is made up. All these issues add to the mystery and sense of adventure in what must be one of the World's first travel books.
In our 'Age of Reason' we try to explain everything using rational methods and scientific experiment, this book succeeds ... Read More:

Rating:

- Classic Medieval Travelogue
Mandeville's 'Travels' was a medieval best-seller, a fiction of a guide to the world beyond our shores. He conjures up fantastical beasts and societies no one had ever seen, a product of his fertile imagination rather than of any garnered intelligence or experience of travel. Anyone wanting to understand the medieval mind, and its fear that the world beyond the next hill might be a terrifying place, should read Mandeville; as should anyone wanting to write fantasy.

Books : The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Penguin Classics)