Baudolino_Umberto Eco_book sleeve
2004 Longlist

Baudolino

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

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 magical story.

Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts – a talent for learning 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 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.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Umberto
Eco

Umberto Eco has written works of fiction, literary criticism and philosophy. His first novel, The Name of the Rose, was a major international bestseller and he has since published four other novels, along with many brilliant collections of essays.

Umberto Eco has written works of fiction, literary criticism and philosophy. His first novel, The Name of the Rose, was a major international bestseller and he has since published four other novels, along with many brilliant collections of essays.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR William
Weaver

William Fense Weaver was an English language translator of modern Italian literature. Weaver was best known for his translations of the work of Umberto Eco, Primo Levi, and Italo Calvino, but translated many other Italian authors over the course of a career that spanned more than fifty years.
William Fense Weaver was an English language translator of modern Italian literature. Weaver was best known for his translations of the work of Umberto Eco, Primo Levi, and Italo Calvino, but translated many other Italian authors over the course of a career that spanned more than fifty years.

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