Baudolino: A Medieval Literary Adventure of History, Myth, and Invention in Byzantine Realms

“Baudolino, with its richly variegated haul of medieval treasures, remains compulsively readable.” —The New York Times Book Review

The author of the international sensation The Name of the Rose returns to the Middle Ages in this beguiling tale of history, myth, and invention.

It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story.

Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts—a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy, he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander—who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa—adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends.

Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East—a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens.

With dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age, this is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best.

From the Publisher

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0156029065
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperVia
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 6, 2003
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 544 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780156029063
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0156029063
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.99 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #388,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #103 in Medieval Historical Fiction (Books) #345 in Absurdist Fiction (Books) #624 in Historical Fantasy (Books)