The author of a string of remarkable travel accounts, Thubron -- now in his sixties and as intrepid as ever -- recounts an epic, 7,000-mile trek across the Silk Road from Xi'an to Eastern Turkey in this lyrical, erudite portrait, encompassing Dunhuang, Samarkand and Bukhara, Afghanistan and Iran.  (CAS133, $25.95)

Best of 2007