Messer Marco Polo

Donn Byrne places the legendary traveler Marco Polo within a richly imagined historical romance, framed by the voice and memory of an Irish storyteller. The narrative begins with the return of an elderly clansman whose tales once transformed an Ulster childhood. From that intimate world of fireside stories and remembered landscapes, Byrne opens a different kind of journey: one shaped by imagination as much as geography. Lyrical description, affection for oral storytelling, and a fascination with distant lives give this short novel its distinctive character. It presents a fictional vision of its historical subject rather than a documentary biography.

A public-domain text edition with newly prepared typography and a typographic cover. Original printed illustrations are not reproduced.