In this richly inventive 2000 novel, a cunning Italian peasant with a gift for languages and elaborate lies is adopted by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and rises through the imperial court, only to invent the legendary letter of Prester John and later embark on a fantastical fifteen-year quest to find the mythical Eastern kingdom.

Framed by the chaotic sack of Constantinople in 1204, the story brilliantly blurs history, myth, and pure fabrication as Baudolino’s tall tales reshape the medieval world around him. Eco delivers a sprawling, witty, and deeply playful meditation on the power of storytelling, filled with philosophical digressions, comic adventure, and creatures from medieval bestiaries that reward patient readers who enjoy erudite historical fantasy.