The Old Marco Polo Did He/Didn’t He Thing Again

The did he/didn’t he debate is back again around Marco Polo. This time Professor Daniele Petrella of the University of Naples, studying in Japan, has told the Italian history magazine Focus Storia that there are too many inconsistencies in Polo’s account of Kublai Khan’s attempted invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281. Could an eye witness get so many things wrong? Here’s the Daily Mail on the story or, for those of you who could have had a chat with Marco himself, the Corriere della Serra version. Me? I’m not getting involved in that debate – the did he/didn’t he debate can get really nasty! Remember the Marco was a Croat debate just recently and how messy that turned (if not then click here).