Afghanistan Map  •  Ayazi Publishing MAP A flat wall map of Afghanistan at a scale of 1:1,500,000. (CAS124, $19.95)
Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions  •  Frank L. Holt HISTORY •  2003 •  PAPER  • 198 PAGES Like a historical sleuth, classics scholar Frank L. Holt -- an expert on ancient Bactria -- solves the real-life mystery of the elephant medallions, curious coins from Bactria during the reign of Alexander, in this concise, informative study of ancient history. (CAS115, $19.95)
Caravans  •  James Michener LITERATURE •  2003 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES A blockbuster by Michener set in Afghanistan in the 1940s. The novel follows the fate of a young U.S. diplomat based in Kabul on a search for a missing woman. Characteristically, Michener interweaves history, geography, culture and evocative descriptions of the landscape and people. (CAS85, $14.95)
Central Asia Map  •  Nelles MAP An up-to-date, shaded relief map of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Krygystan at the very good scale of 1:1,750,000. With inset plans of major cities. (CAS37, $10.95)
The Central Asian States, Discovering Independence  •  Gregory Gleason CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1997 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A timely analysis of the emergent independent republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan after 70 years of Soviet rule. Both scholarly and accessible to the general reader, this book discusses cultural, political and economic foundations and change in the region. With maps, illustrations, an excellent chronology and extensive bibliography. (CAS27, $38.00)
The Dust of Empire, The Race for Mastery in the Asian Heartland  •  Karl Meyer HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES Meyer's follow-up to the lively, engaging "Tournament of Shadows," his account of the 19th-century tussle between Great Britain and Russia over control of the region. Here the veteran journalist brings the story of politics and struggle in the Central Asian Republics up to date, covering too the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Russia. Meyer artfully interweaves travels with interviews, history and analysis. (CAS96, $15.00)
Eastward to Tartary  •  Robert D. Kaplan TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 364 PAGES A loosely organized travelogue by the author of the acclaimed "Balkan Ghosts," Kaplan connects his travels and experience in the Balkans, the Middle East, Turkey and the Caucasus to the history and culture of Central Asia. (CAS45, $14.95)
Eric Shipton, The Six Mountain Travel Books  •  Eric Shipton EXPLORATION •  1997 •  HARD COVER  • 800 PAGES A wide-ranging collection of six great books on mountain exploration by Eric Shipton, featuring his pioneering expeditions in the Himalayas, East Africa, Central Asia and Patagonia. This 800-page book includes Nandi Devi, Blank on the Map, Upon that Mountain, Mt. Everest Reconnaissance Expedition of 1951, Mountains of Tartary, and Land of Tempest. (EXP12, $38.00)
Full Tilt, From Dublin to Delhi with a Bicycle  •  Dervla Murphy TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES The indomitable Dervla Murphy's first book, a captivating account of her solo journey (first conceived when she was just ten) across Europe to Iran, Afghanistan, and over the Himalayas to Pakistan and into India. This Irish grandmother has been off exploring the world, sometimes alone, sometimes with her daughter, often with a bicycle, for forty years now. Her Muddling Through in Madagascar is a Longitude favorite. (IDA324, $15.95)
Fundamentalism Reborn, Afghanistan and the Taliban  •  William Maley HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A collection of scholarly articles on the Taliban. (CAS93, $23.00)
God Lives in St. Petersburg, and Other Stories  •  Tom Bissell LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 212 PAGES Bissell (Chasing the Sea) returns to his years in Central Asia as a Peace Corps volunteer in these sharp, witty fictionalized accounts. His six fast-paced tales are set in Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and the Aral Sea. (CAS117, $13.95)
The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, A Study of T'ang Exotics  •  Edward Schafer ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1985 •  PAPER  • 399 PAGES A marvelous study of the court of T'ang Dynasty China, and the many splendid works of art that were given in tribute. Not just a catalog, the author draws the reader into the history of China with anecdotes, evocative descriptions and stories of court life. First published in 1963, it's a classic, scholarly overview that suffers only from its lack of color illustrations. (CAS53, $29.95)
A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume I: Inner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire  •  David Christian HISTORY •  2008 •  PAPER  • 472 PAGES • COMING IN DECEMBER A comprehensive history of the region from the Stone Age to the 13th-century Mongol Empire. With a few maps and photographs, helpful chronology and the usual scholarly paraphernalia. A volume in the ambitious "Blackwell History of the World" series, this book will appeal to the traveler with a serious interest in the cultural origins of the region. (CAS35, $62.95)
Hundred Thousand Fools of God  •  Theodore Levin MUSIC •  1999 •  PAPER  • 346 PAGES An engaging account of adventures in ethnomusicology in contemporary Central Asia, Levin is a wonderful guide to musical traditions in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. With an accompanying CD featuring the traditional music of Central Asia. (CAS59, $29.95)
Kabul Map  •  Gita Shenassi MAP A reference map of Kabul at a scale of 1:27,500. (CAS125, $18.95)
Lonely Planet Central Asia  •  Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 528 PAGES A comprehensive, detailed guide to travel in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the Lonely Planet series. With a good overview of the history and culture of the region, a modest section of color photographs, and 55 local and regional maps. (CAS42, $29.99)
Mexico's Indigenous Past  •  Alfredo Lopez Austin  •  Leonardo Lopez Luhan HISTORY •  2005 •  PAPER A panoramic view of ancient Mexico, from the earliest records to the arrival of the European conquistadors. Drawing on archaeological and ethnohistorical sources, the book offers a unified vision of Mexico's precolonial past (MEX194, $24.95)
The Mongols (Peoples of Europe)  •  David Morgan HISTORY •  1990 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A short, readable treatment of the medieval Mongols, their administration, military, religion and economy. Before the Mongols withdrew from central Europe in 1242, they had reached the Adriatic and become Europe's most formidable -- and dangerous -- neighbor. They once controlled the largest continuous land empire in history. Includes chapters on the predecessors of the Mongols in Central Asia, Chinghiz Khan's rise to power, and the Mongols in China, Russia and Persia. (MGL15, $34.95)
The Places in Between  •  Rory Stewart TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES • NEW Born in Hong Kong, educated at Eton and Oxford and formerly tutor to Prince William and Prince Harry, Rory Stewart ditched it all in 2000 to walk 6,000 miles from Turkey to Bangladesh. The Places in Between, which won the Ondaatje Prize, illuminates the absurdity, plight and peril of the Afghans after the fall of the Taliban. Stewart walked from Herat to Kabul in the dead of winter, depending on luck, a big dog and the kindness of strangers (along with his ability to speak Persian and his knowledge of local customs). His thrilling, poignant book is a worthy successor to Bruce Chatwin and Peter Levi's 1960s trek recounted in The Light Garden of the Angel King. (MDE100, $14.00)
The Politics of Heroin, CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade  •  Alfred McCoy HISTORY •  1991 •  PAPER  • 634 PAGES An expanded version of McCoy's groundbreaking "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia." This second edition includes the relationship between drug merchants, and intelligence and law enforcement agencies from Southeast Asia, to Central America and Afghanistan. The author is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. (LAO09, $32.95)
Religions of the Silk Road  •  Richard C. Foltz RELIGION •  2000 •  PAPER  • 186 PAGES A scholarly survey of cultural traditions, and especially religions, along the trade routes through China and Central Asia from antiquity to the 15th century. A tall order for under 200 pages -- but the book sensibly devotes a chapter to each of the major religious traditions, including Islam, Buddhism and Manichaeism . (CAS52, $21.95)
The Root of Wild Madder, Chasing the History, Mystery, And Lore of the Persian Carpet  •  Brian Murphy ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES The complexities of Persian carpets go far beyond their intricate designs, as Brian Murphy uncovers in this compelling account of the carpets' origins and history. Beginning with the stories of the young girls who weave the carpets together, Murphy traces the journey of these prized works of art as they pass into the world of merchandising, interviewing a fascinating cast of characters along the way. (IRN46, $15.00)
Samarkand, A Novel  •  Amin Maalouf  •  Russell Harris LITERATURE •  1998 •  PAPER  • 304 PAGES A fictional history of Persia featuring Omar Khayyam, the 11th-century poet and author of the "Rubaiyat." Written by Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf. (CAS69, $14.95)
Setting the East Ablaze, Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia  •  Peter Hopkirk HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 268 PAGES Another volume in the grand Hopkirk tradition of intrigue, treachery, murder, escape, executions and skullduggery. In this book he portrays Lenin's attempt between the two World Wars to spread Marxism east. A very readable escapade, this is the story of British Indian Intelligence officers against armed Communist revolutionaries, enlivened by a cast of real characters including White Russians versus Bolsheviks, a murderous, mad baron, Chinese warlords, Islamic visionaries, agents provocateurs, and a vanishing lady. (CAS25, $15.95)
The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang  •  Sally Wriggins TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2003 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES A nicely illustrated account of an extraordinary, 16-year trek from Xi'an to India by way of Central Asia in search of the origins of Buddhism by Xuan-Zang, the famous 7th-century Chinese monk. Modern travelers will find the descriptions of Buddhist sites and shrines of much interest, including the original accounts of Dunhuang, Samarkand the now-obliterated Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. With maps and photographs. (ASA31, $25.00)
Sir Aurel Stein, Archaeological Explorer  •  Jeanette Mirsky BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  1998 •  PAPER  • 585 PAGES Villain, brilliant archaeologist, explorer, scholar and geographer, Aurel Stein trekked 25,000 miles across Central Asia (in the company of a small dog and large retinue) in search of ancient treasures of the Silk Road. Walker follows the fortunes and expeditions of the man from his origins in Hungary, devoting much of the book to his discovery of sculptures, manuscripts, paintings and other archaeological treasures, now scattered in museums across Europe. Written with the cooperation of the Stein Trustees, she nonetheless does not dodge the controversy surrounding Stein's legacy as a foreign devil on the Silk Road. (CAS61, $20.00)
South Southeast  •  Steve McCurry ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2001 •  HARD COVER  • 160 PAGES A remarkable portfolio of images taken in and around Afghanistan, Burma, India, Pakistan and other sites in South and Southeast Asia over a career in photojournalism spanning twenty years. The photographs, saturated with color, life and light, are beautiful. You can preview some of his striking photographs online at http://www.stevemccurry.com. (ASA34, $59.95)
Three Cups of Tea, One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time  •  Greg Mortenson  •  David Oliver Relin CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2007 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES When American nurse Mortenson attempted to scale K2 in 1993, he found shelter for seven weeks in a remote Pakistani mountain village. In return, he set up the village's first school, a project which expanded into the 50-school Central Asia Institute in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson (with Along with co-author Relin) relates compelling anecdotes of villagers, the Taliban, schoolchildren and more, eventually arguing for efforts by the US to increase education and provide relief from Islamic fundamentalism. (PKN20, $15.00)
The Travels of Marco Polo  •  Marco Polo  •  Ronald Lantham TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  1975 •  PAPER  • 380 PAGES The memories of a 13th-century journey to China along the Silk Road, maybe the most famous travel account ever, as edited by Ronald Lantham. Describing exotic plants, birds, precious gems, silks, and spices with a merchant's eye, this superb geographer recounts his 20 years of travel and return to Venice in 1295. (CAS05, $13.95)
The Twentieth Wife  •  Indu Sundaresan LITERATURE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 397 PAGES Sundaresan boldly reimagines the life of the wily and powerful 17th-century Mughal ruler Jahanara in this lushly detailed, action-packed historical novel. She brings to life the power, politics, customs, architecture and traditions of the Mughals. The story contibues in The Feast of Roses (IDA307, $15.00)
A Vanished World  •  Wilfred Thesiger BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2002 •  HARD COVER  • 200 PAGES This stunning record of an unusually eventful life takes in Thesiger's travels and adventures in revolutionary Ethiopia and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, his time among the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, his long stint living in Northern Kenya, and, memorably, his long love affair with the Empty Quarter of Oman (memorialized in "Arabian Sands"). Ninety-one-year-old Thesiger selected the black-and-white photographs for this album, which include many of his portraits of people and ways of life long gone. (ARB56, $35.00)
Wanderlust, One Hundred Countries: A Personal Journey  •  Michael Clinton CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2004 •  HARD COVER  • 168 PAGES A portfolio of 200 color images drawn from Clinton's many and varied travels around the globe. (TVL105, $50.00)
A Woman's Asia  •  Marybeth Bond ANTHOLOGY •  2005 •  PAPER  • 310 PAGES These thirty-five personal, often hilarious accounts of women's adventures from China to Sri Lanka to Turkey to Bhutan, not only illuminating the everyday, oft-overlooked cultural practices of Asia, but also giving a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of the female traveller. Featuring selections from Jan Morris, Pamela Logan and Alison Wright. (ASA49, $17.95)
The World's Most Dangerous Places  •  Robert Young Pelton TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2000 •  PAPER  • 992 PAGES The latest edition of Pelton's travels in dangerous and inhospitable locales -- including everywhere from Afghanistan and Chechnya to the jungles of Southeast Asia. Pelton offers his wild brand of observations, suggestions and opinions on the world. (GEN123, $21.95)