William Dalrymple's debut travel book — an account of his journey from Jerusalem to Xanadu (Marco Polo's route) taken at age 22, while still a student at Cambridge.
One of the great debut travel books: a young man's ambitious journey through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and China to reach Kublai Khan's summer palace. Written with a combination of youthful confidence, genuine scholarship (Dalrymple was already deeply read in the history of the regions he traveled), and comic self-deprecation. Announced one of the major travel writers of his generation.
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