The Trail of Marco Polo by Jean Bowie Shor

The Trail of Marco Polo

by Jean Bowie Shor

The Travel Book Club, undated
Black and white photographic plates, graphs and diagrams, illustrated endpapers (maps)
Hardcover, dustjacket

Condition: Very Good 
a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges, corners and covers, previous owners’ inscription and details on front flyleaf, age toned pages, a little foxing, a little discolouration to covers and spine.  Dustjacket shows some edge and shelf wear with some discolouration, some chipping and tears, some insect damage along folds and edges (see photographs) 

"Franc and Jean Shor, a young American couple, set out to follow the seven-century-old trail of Marco Polo, form Venice to Peiping, which lies along the boundary of no man’s land where Iran, Russia, Afghanistan and China meet.  Only a handful of Westerners had crossed these high passes and unexplored valleys: border skirmishes were frequent; strangers were automatically assumed to be enemies.
The Shors’ adventures matched in fascination and variety those of their predecessor.  They were the privileged guests of the Shah of Iran, and were given direct permission by the King of Afghanistan to cross the forbidden and forbidding Wakhan Corridor.  They crossed deserts and mountain ranges: were entertained by the great and the savage.  Jean almost drowned; Franc contracted a deadly fever in the snow-bound High Pamirs; one of their “trusted” guides turned out to be a bandit and a murderer.  They drove off wolves at night with flash-bulbs; slept in their clothes during sand and snow storms; travelled by Yak, horse, foot and ancient bus.  Ultimately, they lost their way in the high passes.  Unable to reach the Chinese border, ill and hungry, they literally staggered into the fabled Hunza valley, a true Shangri-la of the East.”