I'm reading An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage for a World History course and noticed something interesting in a passage about Christopher Columbus:
The problem was that his calculations looked fishy, particularly since they relied on evidence from Marco Polo, whose book describing his travels was widely regarded as a work of fiction.
I want to know more about the extent of this belief. Was The Travels of Marco Polo considered a exaggerated version of a true story (the closest analogy I can think of is Journey to the West, as that was based off a true event, albeit with a godlike monkey) or was it more folklore/legend like Sinbad?
I'd like to ask an additional question to this interesting one. I've heard that some historians have argued Marco Polo never actually went to China and instead made it to the Black Sea region where he discussed the Far East with travelers. Polo then wrote about these discussions but made it seem as if he was there. Who makes these claims and what evidence do they offer? Is it plausible or is there strong evidence aside from Polo's own word that he did serve Kublai Khan?