The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

John Mandeville, Charles Moseley

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English

Penguin Classics
20 April 2005

A rich and often fantastical travel narrative from the 14th Century, combining geography and natural history with romance and marvels

Ostensibly written by an English knight, the Travels purport to relate his experiences in the Holy Land, Egypt, India and China. Mandeville claims to have served in the Great Khan's army, and to have travelled in 'the lands beyond' - countries populated by dog-headed men, cannibals, Amazons and Pygmies. Although Marco Polo's slightly earlier narrative ultimately proved more factually accurate, Mandeville's was widely known, used by Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Frobisher, and inspiring writers as diverse as Swift, Defoe and Coleridge. This intriguing blend of fact, exaggeration and absurdity offers both fascinating insight into and subtle criticism of fourteenth-century conceptions of the world.

By: John Mandeville
Translated by: Charles Moseley
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 172g
ISBN: 9780141441436
ISBN 10: 0141441437
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 20 April 2005
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sir John Mandeville left his native St Albans in 1322 and died in Liege in 1372.

Reviews for The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

'Both reader and author have marvellous fun. Some ten or dozen emperors or empresses are stabbed, hacked to pieces, poisoned or otherwise brutally murderred. Few varieties of curious sex are not given a showing. And as for the burning of Rome, throwing Christians to the lions, and the sacking of the temple at Jerusalem - what an opportunity they provide for Burgess's rumbustious style' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH