Longitude

The Ancient Silk Road   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Here's a page from Longitude, the specialty bookseller for travelers. To order online, and to see the latest, most comprehensive selection of books and maps, go to http://reading.longitudebooks.com/LO788. You may also call 800-342-2164 to order or request a catalog.

Essential Books These 5 items are available for $75, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXCAS16)
 
The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide  •  Paul Wilson  •  Dominic Streatfield-James
GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 336 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, $22.95)
  The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide
The Great Game, The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia  •  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 Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
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
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)
  Central Asia Map
China Map  •  International Travel Maps
2006 •  MAP
A fine, double-sided map of China, at a useful scale of 1:3,800,000, featuring colorful shaded relief, indexed with an inset map of central Beijing. Fifth edition. It also shows parts of Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma. (CHN06, $11.95)
  China Map



Also Recommended
C.I.S. and the Baltic States Map  •  Hildebrand    •  A map of all the states of the former USSR. (RUS22, $14.95)
 
 
Fodor's Beijing's 25 Best  •  Fodors   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This slim book includes a separate full-color map of the center of Beijing, along with a handy 96-page shirt-pocket guide with essential information on its highlights, including restaurant recommendations and sightseeing. (CHN48, $11.95)
 
 
Lonely Planet Central Asia  •  Lonely Planet   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A comprehensive, detailed guide to travel in the region, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. (CAS42, $29.99)
 
 
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, $23.95)
 
 
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road  •  Peter Hopkirk   • HISTORY  •  Hopkirk's rousing tale of Sven Hedrin and other large-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  •  A scholarly biography of the 12th-century conqueror, ably translated from the German with the general reader in mind. This landmark book offers great insight into life on the steppes of Central Asia and expansion of the Mongol empire. (MGL24, $31.95)
 
 
Kashgar, Oasis City on China's Old Silk Road  •  John Gollings   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  George Mitchell and colleagues capture the history, character and import of Kashgar in this in-depth portrait of the legendary city featuring 200 color photographs by John Golling. (CAS166, $50.00)
 
 
Odyssey Guide Xinjiang, China's Central Asia  •  Jeremy Tredinnick   • HISTORY • COMING IN MARCH  •  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, $23.95)
 
 
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, $12.95)
 
 
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, $21.95)
 
 
Tournament of Shadows, The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia  •  Karl Meyer  •  Shareen Blair Brysac   • HISTORY  •  Journalists Meyer and Brysac recreate the blundering, xenophobic exploits of Russia and, especially, the British in 19th-century Central Asia in this grand tale. (CAS41, $19.95)
 
 
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  •  A comprehensive survey of 1,000 years of Islamic architecture, design and decoration. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, maps and site plans. (ISL01, $24.95)
 
 
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, $12.95)
 
 
The Arts of China  •  Michael Sullivan   • ART & ARCHITECTURE • COMING IN JANUARY  •  A comprehensive survey of Chinese visual arts and culture through the ages. It's a lively overview, thoroughly illustrated and accessible, of bronzes, ceramics, painting and architecture, from the Neolithic to the modern era. (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, $29.95)
 
 
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, $18.95)
 
 
In Xanadu, A Quest  •  William Dalrymple   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  An epic journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo through the Middle East and Central Asia to China. An intrepid traveler and entertaining writer, Dalrymple offers an anecdotal history of the people and places he encounters en route. (CAS50, $14.95)
 
 
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, $22.95)
 
 
Marco Polo, From Venice to Xanadu  •  Laurence Bergreen   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Lawrence 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, $16.95)
 
 
My Life as an Explorer  •  Sven Hedin  •  Peter Hopkirk   • EXPLORATION  •  This classic memoir by the great Swedish explorer is an amazing account of hardship and adventure over three decades through the lands of Central Asia and the Silk Road. (CAS06, $16.00)
 
 
Riding the Iron Rooster, By Train Through China  •  Paul Theroux   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  Theroux's wry account of utterly exhausting, exasperating travels, mostly by rail, throughout China for an entire year. He gets himself to every corner of the huge country, including 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, $27.99)
 
 
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, $13.95)
 
 

 
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