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CHINA & THE YANGTZE

Xian & the Chinese Silk Road

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Reading

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Odyssey Guide The Silk Road, Xi'an to Kashgar

Odyssey Guide The Silk Road, Xi'an to Kashgar

by Judy Bonavia

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

With its photographs, maps, essays and lively sidebars on people, literature, food, religion, nature and customs, this is a terrific guide. (CAS13, $24.95)

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road

by Peter Hopkirk

  • HISTORY
  • 1984
  • PAPER
  • 252 PAGES

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)

Life Along the Silk Road

Life Along the Silk Road

by Susan Whitfield

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 253 PAGES

With insight, scholarship and dramatic flair, Susan Whitfield recounts the lives of ten diverse individuals on the ancient Silk Road, including four tales set in Dunhuang. With a superb 15-page history of Central Asia. (CAS44, $26.95)

Northwest China Map

Northwest China Map

by MapLink

  • 2002
  • MAP

This bird's-eye map takes in the region from Dunhuang west across the Taklamakan to Almaty, Bishkek and the Pamirs. With shaded relief, archaeological sites, roads, tracks and paths, railroads and trade routes. (CHN202, $9.95)

China North Map

China North Map

by Nelles

  • MAP

A detailed travel map of North China, at a scale of 1:1,750,000. (CHN40, $13.95)

 
China Adventure Map

China Adventure Map


by 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. (CHN06, $11.95)

Silk Road Countries Map, Central Asia

Silk Road Countries Map, Central Asia


by Gizi Map

  • 2003
  • MAP

A map covering the Silk Roads and surrounding territories from Western China and India across Asia to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Black Sea at a scale of 1:3,000,000. (CAS100, $14.95)

The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map

The Ancient Silk Road, An Illustrated Map


by Odyssey Maps

  • 2011
  • MAP

Three large annotated color maps, dozens of photographs and expert commentary illustrate sites across the Silk Road from China across Central Asia, the Middle East and Asia Minor. (ASA58, $14.95)

Insight Guide Silk Road

Insight Guide Silk Road


by Insight Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 421 PAGES

From Xi'an across Central Asia to Turkey, Chris Bradley covers the sweep of the Silk Road in this gorgeously illustrated guide in the revitalized Insight series. Second Edition. (CAS200, $24.99)

Lonely Planet Beijing

Lonely Planet Beijing


by Damian Harper

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This practical guide to Beijing features maps, an overview of culture, history and nature, and a good deal of nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. There's even a section on the locally spoken dialect of Mandarin. (CHN47, $19.99)

Odyssey Guide Xi'an, Shaanxi & the Terracotta Army

Odyssey Guide Xi'an, Shaanxi & the Terracotta Army


by Kevin Bishop

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

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)

The Silk Road, China and the Karakorum Highway


by Jonathan Tucker

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES
  • COMING IN DECEMBER

Tucker includes historical sites, works of art, travelers' accounts by ancient and modern travelers, legends, poetry and literary excerpts, photographs, maps and site-plans in this compact guide to the Xian to Kashgar route through China. (CAS213, $20.00)

The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide

The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide


by 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. (CAS21, $24.95)

Empires of the Silk Road

Empires of the Silk Road


by Christopher I. Beckwith

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 504 PAGES
  • NEW

Beckwith rescues Central Asia from the periphery of world affairs with flair and scholarship, showing the sweep of empire, trade and cultural life over the millennia. (CAS171, $16.95)

Religions of the Silk Road

Religions of the Silk Road


by 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. (CAS52, $28.00)

Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants on the Silk Road

Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants on the Silk Road


by Luce Boulnois | Helen Loveday

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 575 PAGES

A history and guide to the Silk Road, organized chronologically and featuring a nice selection of contemporary photographs. (CAS111, $27.95)

The Great Game

The Great Game


by Peter Hopkirk

  • HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 565 PAGES
  • FAVORITE
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great struggle for European supremacy in Central Asia takes us over the high mountain passes and through the scorching deserts and caravan towns of the Silk Road, capturing the glamour, intrigue, treachery and adventure of the time. (CAS09, $18.00)

The Silk Road, A Very Short Introduction


by James A. Millward

  • HISTORY
  • 2013
  • PAPER
  • 168 PAGES

Millward looks beyond the good exchanged and traveler's tales to the role of nomad empires and the spread of ideas in this pocket history. (CAS212, $11.95)

The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia

The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia


by Frances Wood

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 270 PAGES

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)

The Terra Cotta Army, China's First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation

The Terra Cotta Army, China's First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation


by John Man

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

Man recounts the 1974 discovery of the 8,000 terra cotta soldiers by two farmers, and uses the legend, lore and fact associated with Emperor Qin's Tomb to speculate about the mysterious emperor himself. (CHN518, $16.95)

The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China

The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China


by William Lindesay

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 32 PAGES

A beautiful introduction to the extraordinary tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, First Emperor of China, this concise visual overview features richly colored illustrations and photographs accompanied by detailed captions. (CHN126, $12.95)

Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond

Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond


by Kenneth Nebenzahl

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 176 PAGES

This visually stunning collection of 80 rare illuminated manuscripts, early modern masterpieces and archival maps traces two millennia of exploration across Asia. (CAS113, $29.95)

The Arts of China

The Arts of China


by Michael Sullivan

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

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 Mummies of Urumchi

The Mummies of Urumchi


by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

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, $24.95)

From Heaven Lake, Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet

From Heaven Lake, Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet


by Vikram Seth

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1987
  • PAPER
  • 178 PAGES

An unconventional, award-winning travelogue of a 1981 trip to India from China via the Himalayas by the marvelous Indian novelist Vikram Seth. (HML19, $15.00)

Frontiers of Heaven, A Journey to the End of China

Frontiers of Heaven, A Journey to the End of China


by Stanley Stewart

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 232 PAGES

A British journalist with wanderlust and a way with the pen, Stewart recounts his rough journey halfway across Asia from Shanghai to Xinjiang along the Great Wall. A Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year. (CHN237, $14.95)

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World


by Jack Weatherford

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Weatherford, who has lived and studied in Mongolia, interweaves his own travels and field work on the Central Asian steppes, much of it on horseback, with a lively portrait of Genghis Khan and the world of the medieval Mongols. The Mongols introduced not only mayhem, but also paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass and trousers to their far-flung empire. (CAS106, $15.00)

In Xanadu, A Quest

In Xanadu, A Quest


by William Dalrymple

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 314 PAGES

Back in print! An intrepid traveler and entertaining writer, William Dalrymple deftly observed account takes in the people and places he encounters on a journey from Jerusalem across Central Asia to China along the Silk Road, ending like Marco Polo, at Xanadu, the summer palace of Kubla Khan. (CAS50, $15.95)

News from Tartary

News from Tartary


by Peter Fleming

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

Fleming's rousing account of a 3,500-mile jaunt from Peking to Sinkiang and on to India, a classic of imperial British wit and style. (CAS46, $18.95)

Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road

Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road


by Stuart Stevens

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1988
  • PAPER
  • 239 PAGES

An entertaining account of hard travel from Beijing to Kashgar, following the route of Peter Fleming and his classic News From Tartary. (CAS77, $13.00)

Riding the Iron Rooster


by Paul Theroux

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 528 PAGES

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)

Shadow of the Silk Road

Shadow of the Silk Road


by Colin Thubron

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 363 PAGES

Thubron returns to Central Asia in this lyrical, erudite account of a 7,000-mile trek across Asia, visiting archaeological sites, people and cities from Xi'an and Dunhuang to Samarkand, Bukhara, Afghanistan and Iran. (CAS133, $15.99)

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang


by 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. (ASA31, $25.00)

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