Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Abbreviations vii
4. Acknowledgments ix
5. Introduction: Asian Trade and Heroic Narrative from Marco Polo to Milton 1
6. PART 1. The Mongols
7. 1. Marco Polo and the Marvelous Real 9
8. 2. A Paradise for Killers: Marco Polo and the Garden of the Assassins 27
9. 3. The Squire’s Tale: Romance as Mask 43
10. 4. Morgana and Manodante: Boiardo and the Aristocratic Response to Mercantilism 63
11. PART 2. The Portuguese
12. 5. Huon at the Castle of Adamant 83
13. 6. First Encounter: The Christian-Hindu Confusion When the Portuguese Reached India 109
14. 7. Camões and the Discovery of India: The Negative Side 123
15. 8. Surviving Enchantment: Vasco da Gama’s First Voyage in Os Lusíadas— The Interplay between Experience and Classical Models 155
16. PART 3. The English
17. Prologue 181
18. 9. Spenser, Marlowe, and the English Search for Asian Silk 183
19. 10. The Audience of The Faerie Queene 207
20. 11. Waning of a Dream: A Brief History of Moscovia and Paradise Lost 227
21. 12. A Wood in the Desert 261
22. Appendix 1: The Devaluation of the Squire and his Tale 285
23. Appendix 2: Henry's search for Spices 287
24. Appendix 3: Vergil in Camoes 289
25. Bibliography 291
26. Index 313