Young Marco surveying charts. Marco Polo (1254-1324) was an Italian merchant, explorer, and author who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road (1271-95). He reached further than any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China, and became a confidant of Kublai Khan. His travels are recorded in Book of the Marvels of the World. The travelogue spills over with sex, violence, suspense, exotic lands, strange people, bizarre practices, eluding marauders, surviving shipwrecks and crossing treacherous deserts. Illustration from Marco Polo; his travels and adventures by George Makepeace Towle, 1880 (cropped and cleaned).