The Last Secrets of the Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo by Horse and Camel [Hardcover]

Countess Alexandra Tolstoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh in the summer of 1996, Alexandra Tolstoy began working for an investment banking firm in New York and London, only to quit within a year. Like many twentysomethings, she longed to travel, to find adventure - and soon those longings found their outlet, when she learned that an acquaintance dreamed of riding the ancient Silk Road on horses and camels. Before long, a plan took shape: to journey nearly five thousand miles through the desert, steppes, mountains, and forests of Central Asia and China.
In The Last Secrets of the Silk Road, Alexandra Tolstoy recounts the incredible sojourn she made with three companions in 1999 through some of the least-explored countries and areas of the world: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgzstan, the Taklamakan Desert, and China. In lands associated with Genghis Khan, Marco Polo, Alexander the Great, Peter Fleming, and "The Great Game," Alexandra and Sophia ("Mouse") Cunningham, Victoria ("Wic") Westmacott, and Lucy Kelaart encountered extremes of climate and landscape, braved dangers, and found camaraderie and friendship, on an eight-month-long journey of a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh in the summer of 1996, Alexandra Tolstoy began working for an investment banking firm in New York and London, only to quit within a year. Like many twentysomethings, she longed to travel, to find adventure. Soon those longings found their outlet, when she learned that an acquaintance dreamed of riding across Central Asia along the ancient Silk Road on horses and camels. Before long, a plan took shape: to journey nearly five thousand miles through the desert, steppes, mountains, and forests of the great trade route between East and West.
In The Last Secrets of the Silk Road, Alexandra Tolstoy recounts the incredible sojourn she made with three companions in 1999 through some of the most ruggedly beautiful and least-explored countries and areas of the world: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgzstan, the Taklamakan Desert, and finally, China. In lands associated with Genghis Khan, Marco Polo, Alexander the Great, Peter Fleming, and "The Great Game," Alexandra and Sophia ("Mouse") Cunningham, Victoria ("Wic") Westmacott, and Lucy Kelaart encountered extremes of climate and landscape, braved dangers, and found camaraderie and friendship, on an eight-month-long journey of a lifetime.

About the Author

Countess ALEXANDRA TOLSTOY is the daughter of historian Nikolai Tolstoy and a distant cousin of the author of War and Peace. She lives in Moscow, where she is establishing a travel company which will organize riding, trekking, and mountaineering tours in Central Asia. This is her first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592282016
• ISBN-13: 978-1592282012
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Day by Day on the Silk Road, February 8, 2004

By 

"rovingreader" (Little Compton, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Secrets of the Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo by Horse and Camel (Hardcover)

I have to admire the spirit and determination that motivated four young women to travel the Silk Road on camel- and horseback; also, author Alexandra Tolstoy is clearly an able and talented person. That said, however, I have to admit that I found this a boring book about a fascinating part of the world. The narrative is rigidly chronological: it starts at the beginning and ends at the end, with little deviation from the set path. Surely that's one way of writing about a journey, but it isn't always the most interesting.
Tolstoy's voice lacks the authority and/or theoriginality essential to good travel literature. I think, for example, of Paul Theroux's many travel books, or, more specifically, Tom Bissell's recent "Chasing the Sea," in which Uzbekistan comes alive. While readers may take exception to many of his opinions, at least he has them, and one sees the world through his eyes. Tolstoy may well go on to write a better book, but this one sounds more like a catalogue than a shaped narrative. If you're planning the same kind of trip, it would be helpful, but if not, look elsewhere.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read, April 17, 2005

By 

R. Lauzon "Bookworm" (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Secrets of the Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo by Horse and Camel (Hardcover)

Normally I find travel books to be boring, but this one kept me very interested. I found it hard to put down. It was a very entertaining and educational read about an area of the world that is rarely ever talked about.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An impressive example of adventure tourism, March 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Secrets of the Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo by Horse and Camel (Hardcover)

I picked this book up off my public library's new book shelf without any prior knowledge of it, and I am glad I did. The author does not appear to be writing a book for the ages. She is merely telling her story, and it is fun reading. I felt I got a good sense of the adventure the author and her three colleagues (also women) were having. I was often amused or impressed and occasionally touched. I would recommend the book to a friend who is interested in traveling in that part of the world. As for me personally, the book was vivid enough to show me that I want no part of riding horses or camels across central Asia.