The Oriental Adventure: Explorers Of The East
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Long before the age of satellites and supersonic travel, a handful of extraordinary men dared to venture into the vast, mysterious lands of the East — and The Oriental Adventure: Explorers of the East by Timothy Severin chronicles their remarkable journeys with vivid authority and scholarly depth. From the silk-road caravans of medieval traders to the daring expeditions of Renaissance missionaries and Enlightenment-era naturalists, Severin presents a sweeping panorama of Western encounters with Asia, reconstructing the dangers, wonders, and revelations that defined each journey. The book details the experiences of iconic figures — among them Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Matteo Ricci — whose accounts of Oriental civilisations forever transformed the European imagination. Severin's prose is cinematic and precise, grounding grand historical narratives in the very human anxieties and ambitions of the men who undertook them, illustrating how curiosity and empire were often inseparable companions. As a scholar and adventurer himself, Severin brings an insider's authenticity to the material, distinguishing this work from dry academic surveys with a sense of wonder that leaps from every page. Rich with period illustrations and maps that transport the reader directly into the landscapes these explorers navigated, the book raises a question that lingers long after the final chapter: what truly drives a person to abandon the known world entirely — and what do they find when they do?
Author: Timothy Severin
Format: Hardback
Published: 1976, Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Travel & exploration
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Long before the age of satellites and supersonic travel, a handful of extraordinary men dared to venture into the vast, mysterious lands of the East — and The Oriental Adventure: Explorers of the East by Timothy Severin chronicles their remarkable journeys with vivid authority and scholarly depth. From the silk-road caravans of medieval traders to the daring expeditions of Renaissance missionaries and Enlightenment-era naturalists, Severin presents a sweeping panorama of Western encounters with Asia, reconstructing the dangers, wonders, and revelations that defined each journey. The book details the experiences of iconic figures — among them Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Matteo Ricci — whose accounts of Oriental civilisations forever transformed the European imagination. Severin's prose is cinematic and precise, grounding grand historical narratives in the very human anxieties and ambitions of the men who undertook them, illustrating how curiosity and empire were often inseparable companions. As a scholar and adventurer himself, Severin brings an insider's authenticity to the material, distinguishing this work from dry academic surveys with a sense of wonder that leaps from every page. Rich with period illustrations and maps that transport the reader directly into the landscapes these explorers navigated, the book raises a question that lingers long after the final chapter: what truly drives a person to abandon the known world entirely — and what do they find when they do?