{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307948889?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0307948889","authors":["William Dalrymple"],"book_id":"9780307948885","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/in-xanadu-9780307948885","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780307948885.jpg?v=3af0981938f4c1c6","description":"William Dalrymple’s award-winning first book: his classic, fiercely intelligent and wonderfully entertaining account of his journey across Marco Polo’s 700-year-old route from Jerusalem to Xanadu, the summer palace of Kubla Khan. At the age of twenty-two, Dalrymple left his college in Cambridge to travel to the ruins of Kubla Khan’s stately pleasure dome in Xanadu. As he and his companions travel across the width of Asia—crossing through Acre, Aleppo, Tabriz, Tashkurgan, and other mysterious and sometimes hellish places—they encounter dusty, forgotten roads, unexpected hospitality, and difficult challenges. Stylish, witty, and knowledgeable about everything from the dreaded order of Assassins to the hidden origins of the Three Magi, this is travel writing at its best.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780307948885","publication_date":"20120918","publisher":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","slug":"in-xanadu","subtitle":"A Quest","title":"In Xanadu"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"TRV026090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7874,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV003010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Central Asia Travel","score":0.7854,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV003040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"India & South Asia Travel","score":0.7722,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"TRV026090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7874,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV003010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Central Asia Travel","score":0.7854,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV003040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"India & South Asia Travel","score":0.7722,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS008000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Chinese History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRV003020","confidence_band":"high","label":"China Travel","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRV010000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Travel Writing","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7874,"slug":"literary-travel"},{"label":"Central Asia Travel","score":0.7854,"slug":"central-asia-travel"},{"label":"India & South Asia Travel","score":0.7722,"slug":"india-south-asia-travel"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in travel writing across Asia","Readers curious about Marco Polo’s route from Jerusalem to Xanadu"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["John Mandeville"],"book_id":"9780141441436","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780141441436.jpg?v=ce6c287eb25b72f4","score":0.7137,"title":"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780141441436"},{"authors":["Tahir Shah"],"book_id":"9780553384437","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780553384437.jpg?v=80c39259ef1d14a1","score":0.7131,"title":"In Arabian Nights","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780553384437"},{"authors":["James Rumford"],"book_id":"9780618432332","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780618432332.jpg?v=8f590baae968e117","score":0.7108,"title":"Traveling Man","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780618432332"},{"authors":["Paul Theroux"],"book_id":"9780618658954","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780618658954.jpg?v=f497f6f80aa950c2","score":0.7097,"title":"The Kingdom by the Sea","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780618658954"},{"authors":["Dori Jones Yang"],"book_id":"9780385739245","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780385739245.jpg?v=021c4ea0d883dab6","score":0.7083,"title":"Daughter of Xanadu","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780385739245"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:world history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:travel writing"],"label":"Travel","score":0.0878,"slug":"travel"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:world history"],"label":"World","score":0.0848,"slug":"world"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:travel writing"],"label":"Writing","score":0.051,"slug":"writing"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Travel across Asia, Marco Polo’s route, Historical places and traditions.","Story elements: Cross-country quest, Traveling companions.","Themes: History, Travel, Writing."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.91,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Readers interested in travel writing across Asia","Readers curious about Marco Polo’s route from Jerusalem to Xanadu"],"themes":["Travel across Asia","Marco Polo’s route","Historical places and traditions"],"tropes":["Cross-country quest","Traveling companions"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":408,"goodreads_ratings_count":4401,"goodreads_reviews_count":358,"quality_score":0.9522}}