It is a fool who doesn’t bookmark a Civ post.
I enjoyed this Marco Polo bio:
http://www.amazon.com/Marco-Polo-Venice-Xanadu-Vintage/dp/1400078806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231300672&sr=1-1
The City of Light:
The Hidden Journal of the Man
Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo
by Jacob D'Ancona
tr by David Selbourne