It's basically ridiculous to "rate" a book of this sort. First of all, it is barely a book, being a selection from Polo's travel writings, one of a group of five or six I acquired somewhere or other, put out by Penguin in a "Great Journeys" series. "India" in this case, includes the eastern coast of Africa, down as far as Madacasgar. Second, it is intrinsically fascinating, no matter how stilted the writing because these are Polo's own words and descriptions (and interpretations) of what he saw first-hand (although I suspect some bits were related to him by others). Third, it isn't possible to disentangle what is accurate, what is cultural misunderstanding, and what is fabrication, and yet even so, the narrative fascinates, as it is all of a piece with the late medieval mind. Magic was real and existed, in this case, there are weatherworkers in Zanzibar, so beware! Why not have a male and a female island where men and women live alone nine months of the year and only mingle (on female island) long enough for procreation and corn planting! (Boy children being handed over at the age of 14). One somewhat chilling and no doubt accurate item is to learn that there have been pirates in that part of the Indian Ocean between Africa and India for a thousand years (and more?). Polo's writing style is somewhat repetitive, but rather hypnotic and reassuring in its own way and, at 85 pages, I can pretty much endure anything. I wouldn't seek out the whole of Polo's work, but I'm glad to have had a taste of it and I'll be keeping it. The covers and general appearance of the series are very appealing. **** ( )