Stanley Johnson In the footsteps of Marco Polo

About

As an Oxford undergraduate in the early 1960s, Stanley Johnson, along with two friends, embarked on an ambitious journey to retrace the steps of the 13th-century explorer Marco Polo. Their goal was to follow Polo’s legendary route from Venice to Beijing. Stanley’s talk begins with this adventurous expedition from over 60 years ago.

Guided by Marco Polo’s vivid descriptions in his renowned book “The Travels,” Stanley, Tim Severin, and Michael de Larrabeiti ventured through Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan, inching closer to the Chinese border. Their aim was to traverse the Silk Road, mirroring the path taken centuries earlier by Marco Polo and his family—his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo.

Drawing from the detailed notes Stanley kept during the journey, the first part of the book captures the exhilarating sense of adventure felt by the three young men as they set out for the Orient. Despite their enthusiasm, they were unable to reach China, as the road through the Pamirs proved impassable by motorcycle.Fast forward 62 years, and the story took a new turn. Stanley recounts how he and his youngest son, Max, resumed Marco Polo’s trail in Far West China, beginning where Polo himself entered the country around 1272.

This modern adventure, documented in collaboration with Chinese television companies and the independent production company One Tribe TV, culminated in a film of Stanley and Max’s journey. The premiere is scheduled for July 3rd at the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair, London.

Stanley’s talk is enriched by his own photographs, capturing the remarkable journey he and Max undertook. They traced Marco Polo’s steps from the High Pamirs to Kashgar in Xinjiang Province, across the Gobi Desert into Inner Mongolia, and finally to the Summer Palace of Kublai Khan in Xanadu, concluding their trek in Beijing.

The Polos spent over four years traveling from Venice to Beijing. In total, Marco Polo served the Great Khan in China for 17 years. Throughout their journey, Stanley and Max were continually amazed by the accuracy of Marco Polo’s observations, both along the route and within China itself.

Marco Polo’s detailed account of China during his time is of immense historical significance. Stanley notes that Polo is revered in China as a crucial bridge-builder between East and West. In this context, Stanley’s work—while being an informed, lively, and amusing chronicle of a personal dream realized—holds special relevance today.

Stanley Johnson is a former MEP and Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. He has also worked for the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Commission in Brussels. He is also father of the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He has appeared in numerous reality television shows, including I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and Celebrity Mastermind where his specialist topic was the works of Sophocles.‘In the Footsteps of Marco Polo’ is his 26th book. A Q&A Session will follow.