About the Author

Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254 and died circa 1324.

Colin Thubron is an award-winning author of novels and travel books, including Behind the Wall: A Journey through China and Shadow of the Silk Road.

Peter Harris graduated from Oxford in classical Chinese and has a Ph.D. in Asian history from Monash. He lived and worked for many years in different parts of Asia including China, where he was representative of the Ford Foundation and a visiting professor at Nanjing University. He is now a Senior Fellow in the China Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.