CENTRAL ASIA & THE SILK ROAD
The Ancient Silk Road   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Books These 5 items are available for $79, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXCAS16)		  
The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide  •  Paul Wilson
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER  • 447 PAGES
A compact, practical guide to the network of ancient trade routes extending from Turkey and the Mideast across Central Asia to China. With 50 maps and town plans. Excerpts from the book and others in the British series are online at www.trailblazer-guides.com. The book is a revised and expanded version of Silk Route by Rail. (CAS21, $24.95)		   The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide
The Great Game  •  Peter Hopkirk
HISTORY •  1994 •  PAPER  • 565 PAGES • FAVORITE • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE
A spellbinding, vivid, and riveting account of the great European struggle for supremacy in Central Asia. This is a romantic, glamorous tale of intrigue, treachery and adventure that takes us over the high mountain passes and through the scorching deserts and caravan towns of the Silk Road. With meticulous scholarship and on-the-spot research, the author describes the history of this region at the core of geopolitics today. With 39 photographs and fine maps. (CAS09, $18.00)		   The Great Game
The Lost Heart of Asia  •  Colin Thubron
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2008 •  PAPER  • 374 PAGES
The intrepid Colin Thubron recounts his travels to Samarkand, Bukhara and throughout Central Asia in the early 1990s, in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union, in this thrilling travelogue. A fine writer, intrepid traveler and insightful observer, he's an outstanding guide to the history, people and culture of this complex corner of the world. (CAS07, $15.99)		   The Lost Heart of Asia
Central Asia Map  •  Nelles
2011 •  MAP
An up-to-date, double-sided 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. Two Sides. 20x36 inches. (CAS37, $13.95)		   Central Asia Map
China Adventure Map  •  National Geographic
2011 •  MAP
A double-sided, full-color map of China, at a useful scale of 1:4,375,000, which shows roads and cities. Printed on tear- and water-reistant paper. Two Sides. 39x27 inches. (CHN06, $11.95)		   China Adventure Map



Also Recommended

Lonely Planet Central Asia  •  Lonely Planet   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A comprehensive, detailed guide to travel in the region, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. (CAS42, $32.99)
 		  
Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook  •  Justin Jon Rudelson   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A handy pocket phrasebook, which focuses on pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler on the Silk Road. (CAS38, $8.99)
 		  
Odyssey Guide The Silk Road, Xi'an to Kashgar  •  Judy Bonavia   • GUIDEBOOK  •  With its photographs, maps, essays and lively sidebars on people, literature, food, religion, nature and customs, this is a terrific guide. (CAS13, $24.95)
 		  
Odyssey Guide Xi'an, Shaanxi & the Terracotta Army  •  Kevin Bishop   • GUIDEBOOK  •  With color photographs, insightful essays on culture and history, site plans and places of interest in and around China's ancient capital. (CHN34, $24.95)
 		  
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road  •  Peter Hopkirk   • HISTORY  •  Hopkirk's rousing tale of Sven Hedin and other larger-than-life archaeological raiders of the early 20th century captures the excitement of discovery -- and the glories of the Silk Road. (CAS22, $24.95)
 		  
Genghis Khan, His Life and Legacy  •  Paul Ratchnevsky  •  Thomas Nivison Haining   • HISTORY  •  This scholarly biography of the 12th-century conqueror, ably translated from the German, offers great insight into life on the steppes of Central Asia and expansion of the Mongol empire. With illustrations, maps, chronology and dynastic tables and a new introduction. (MGL24, $36.95)
 		  
Odyssey Guide Xinjiang  •  Jeremy Tredinnick   • HISTORY • COMING IN JULY  •  This beautifully, authoritative illustrated guide covers with authority the archaeological and cultural riches, Silk Road legacy and fascination of China's enormous Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (CHN508, $29.95)
 		  
Religions of the Silk Road  •  Richard C. Foltz   • RELIGION  •  A scholarly survey of cultural traditions, and especially religions, along the trade routes through China and Central Asia from antiquity to the 15th century. (CAS52, $27.00)
 		  
The Forbidden City, Center of Imperial China  •  Gilles Beguin  •  Dominique Morel   • HISTORY  •  This slim volume is packed with maps, archival photographs and illustrations. With a useful chronology and a carefully chosen selection of writings over the ages, it's an indispensable guide to the Forbidden City and the history of Imperial China. (CHN32, $15.95)
 		  
The Mongols (Peoples of Europe)  •  David Morgan   • HISTORY  •  A short, readable treatment of the medieval Mongols, their administration, military, religion and economy. 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 Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia  •  Frances Wood   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  Wood draws on hundreds of archival photographs, manuscripts and paintings from the British Library in telling this lively story of the art, culture and history of diverse trade routes. With chapters on jade and silk, trade during the Han Dynasty, Dunhuang, the Great Game, explorers and the Silk Road today. (ASA36, $28.95)
 		  
Cave Temples of Mogao, Art and History on the Silk Road  •  Roderick Whitfield  •  Susan Whitfield  •  Neville Agnew   • ART & ARCHITECTURE • COMING IN  •  A magnificently illustrated survey of the history and art of the ancient Buddhist monastery along the Silk Road. (CAS60, $29.95)
 		  
Hundred Thousand Fools of God  •  Theodore Levin   • MUSIC  •  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)
 		  
Islamic Arts  •  Jonathan Bloom  •  Sheila Blair   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  With color photographs, maps and site plans, throughout this survey of 1,000 years of Islamic architecture, design and decoration is a wonderfully illuminating, stimulating introduction tot he subject for anyone with an interest in art. (ISL01, $29.95)
 		  
Search for Ancient China  •  Corinne Debaine-Francfort   • ARCHAEOLOGY  •  With information on everything from jewelry to emperors' tombs, the Great Wall and the dazzling 400-year Han empire, this shirt-pocket survey of discovery features 150 illustrations. (CHN69, $15.95)
 		  
The Arts of China  •  Michael Sullivan   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  A lively survey of Chinese visual arts and culture through the ages, thoroughly illustrated and accessible. With a new chapter on the 20th century and beyond, this fifth edition covers bronzes, ceramics, painting and architecture from the Neolithic to now. (CHN16, $39.95)
 		  
The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, A Study of T'ang Exotics  •  Edward Schafer   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  A marvelous study of the court of T'ang Dynasty China, and the many splendid works of art that were given in tribute. (CAS53, $34.95)
 		  
The Mummies of Urumchi  •  Elizabeth Wayland Barber   • ARCHAEOLOGY  •  An overview of the culture of ancient people of the Silk Road based on the extraordinarily well preserved Caucasoid mummies unearthed in Urumchi in the Tarim Basin of Central Asia. (CAS34, $19.95)
 		  
Traditional Textiles of Central Asia  •  Janet Harvey   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  Harvey surveys the embroidery, silks, velvets, felts and other rich textile traditions of the Silk Road in this spectacularly illustrated guide. (CAS19, $24.95)
 		  
In Xanadu, A Quest  •  William Dalrymple   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  An intrepid traveler and entertaining writer, Dalrymple offers an anecdotal history of the people and places he encounters en route on this epic journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo across Central Asia to China. (CAS50, $18.95)
 		  
Khubilai Khan, His Life and Times  •  Morris Rossabi   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  This fascinating, scholarly portrait of the culture and politics of 13th-century Asia examines Khubilai Khan's rise to power, the submission of Korea and the attempted invasion of Japan. (CAS10, $24.95)
 		  
Marco Polo, From Venice to Xanadu  •  Laurence Bergreen   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Bergreen brings to life ancient traders, despots, conquerors and, especially, the fabled lands of the Silk Road in this vivid tale, weaving his own adventures from Venice to Mongolia and on to China with those of the 13th-century Venetian merchant. (EXP49, $18.00)
 		  
Riding the Iron Rooster  •  Paul Theroux   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  A wry account an utterly exhausting, exasperating travels, mostly by rail, throughout China for an entire year. Theroux gets himself to every corner of the huge country and includes memorable passages on his experiences in Mongolia, Xinjiang, Manchuria and Tibet (where his journey ended). (CHN133, $15.95)
 		  
The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane  •  Beatrice Forbes Manz   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  A portrait of the great nomadic conqueror who rose to power in 1370 on the ruins of the Mongol Empire and led campaigns from Moscow to Delhi. (CAS11, $29.99)
 		  
The Travels of Marco Polo  •  Marco Polo  •  Ronald Lantham   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  The memories of a 13th-century journey to China along the Silk Road, among the most famous travel accounts ever. Describing exotic plants, birds, precious gems, silks, and spices with a merchant's eye, this superb geographer recounts his 20 years of travel. (CAS05, $15.00)
 		  
 
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