Marco Polo (1254-1324) was an Italian merchant and explorer, who spent more than 20 years travelling around the world. This book describes some of his adventures, the people he met, the places he visited and the sights he saw. It also highlights what was happening elsewhere in Marco Polo's time in countries he did not visit. This book covers the years 1200-1350 so that the reader may see his life in context and understand how the world was before Marco Polo was born and what happened in the years soon after he died. To help the reader find their way through the book, each chapter has been divided into seven sections. Each section describes a different part of the world, and is headed by a colour bar. There is also a time line giving an outline of world events in Marco Polo's time and a map which shows some of the most important places mentioned in this book.