To travel the Silk Road, the greatest land route on earth, is to trace the passage not only of trade and armies but also of ideas, religions, and inventions. Making his way by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart, and camel, Colin Thubron covered some seven thousand miles in eight months—out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey—and explored an ancient world in modern ferment.
Shadow of the Silk Road (P.S.)
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In his latest absorbing travel epic, Thubron (In Siberia; Mirror to Damascus) follows the course—or at least the general drift—of the ancient network of trade routes that connected central China with the Mediterranean Coast, traversing along the way several former Soviet republics, war-torn Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. The author travels third-class all the way, in crowded, stifling railroad cars and rattle-trap buses and cars, staying at crummy inns or farmers' houses, subject to shakedowns by border guards and constant harassment—even quarantine—by health officials hunting the SARS virus. Physically, these often monotonously arid, hilly regions of Central Asia tend to go by in a swirl of dun-colored landscapes studded with Buddha shrines in varying states of repair or ruin, but Thubron's poetic eye still teases out gorgeous subtleties in the panorama. Certain themes also color his offbeat encounters with locals—most of them want to get the hell out of Central Asia—but again he susses out the infinite variety of ordinary misery. The conduit by which an entire continent exchanged its commodities, cultures and peoples—Thubron finds traces of Roman legionaries and mummies of Celtic tribesmen in western China—the Silk Road becomes for him an evocative metaphor for the mingling of experiences and influences that is the essence of travel. (July 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Colin Thubron has spent a lifetime exploring Asia, and he displays his significant regional knowledge and experience in Shadow of the Silk Road. Universally acknowledged as one of our best living travel writers, Thubron brings to this book the astute perception for which he is known and the beautiful prose style he has honed for more than 40 years; what is even more impressive, however, is the incredible sense of enthusiasm he brings both to his journey and to his writing. As Jonathan Yardley wrote in the Washington Post, "Colin Thubron [is an] intrepid, resourceful and immensely talented writer who has made a career out of going to out of the way places and then writing brilliantly about them." Shadow of the Silk Road is Thubron at his best.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
196 of 203 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Silk Road was the 2,000-year-old route used for trade between vastly different cultures of ancient China and ancient Rome and all points in between. It was never one simple road, more a knot of roads, with the traders taking side routes based on the markets or on the weather. Of course, it does not exist now, but in _Shadow of the Silk Road_ (Chatto and Windus), British author Colin Thubron relates his trace of the route. Thubron has written many books before of his wanderings in Russia, Siberia, and China, and this one is beautifully written, with descriptions of sites that few other tourists are going ever to see and encounters with people like Hunan traders, Uzbek prostitutes, or Buddhist monks. The significance of the Silk Road is merely historical, but many of the regions through which Thubron travels, despite their generally blighted aspects, are important within today's headlines. Thubron started his 7,000-mile travels in 2003, the year that America and Britain invaded Iraq, and indeed he had to take a break because of fighting in Afghanistan. He had to resume his journey the next year. It is impossible to say how representative his "man-on-the-street" conversations are, taking individuals from once-great societies who have been subject to wrenching change especially in the last few decades, but he is generally treated genially, often generously, even by those who object to his nation's endeavors in Iraq.
The Silk Road gets its name from the most frequent and exotic of goods traded on it east-to-west, though the term comes from historians looking at the trade from the vantage of the nineteenth century. The history of the route is enticing and glamorous, perhaps more so for our viewing it from such a distant time. The route now goes among peoples who have changed completely, many of them losing heritage and status. An outbreak of SARS, which complicated Thubron's journey and even wound him up in a mockery of quarantine, makes a threatening shadow over the initial parts of the book set in China. The feeling of abandonment runs throughout the lands here. In Afghanistan, he hears among the complaints from the Hazara people, "Now we have no school, no road, no clinic... The government does nothing. We fought in the jihad against the Russians, but..." or "The Taliban killed my cows!" Thubron remarks, "They were not pleading, but angry: angry at their exclusion, as if the Taliban's branding of them as separate and inferior were being reiterated in calmer times. 'Write about us,' they said." There are conversations with a hermit-like shepherdess, an escapee from Iranian military service, an over-affectionate drunk, and more.
Marco Polo brought back tales from these regions for his time, and Thubron has done so for ours. He is patient in trying to understand individuals or cultures. He is irreverent when the culture has gone amiss, but properly reverent as he visits archeological sites, mosques, or the tomb of Omar Khayyám in Nishapur (where he shows just how much Edward Fitzgerald put into his translation of _The Rubáiyát_, the "Moving Finger Writes" passage). He has plenty of erudition and knowledge of history, but also an appealing humility and self-doubt when confronting those of a foreign culture. He is as good at describing minor horrors, like the replacement of gold and silk bazaars in Samarkand by booths that sell DVDs, as he is at optimistic displays like the rock concert of young people in Teheran who are bored by the ayatollahs. It is amazing that in his sixties he made such a trip, but he obviously loves the endeavor. Near the beginning of the book, he tells why, and it is an example of his poetic and clear writing: "A hundred reasons clamour for your going... You go because you are still young and crave excitement, the crunch of your boots in the dust; you go because you are old and need to understand something before it is too late. You go to see what will happen."
The Silk Road gets its name from the most frequent and exotic of goods traded on it east-to-west, though the term comes from historians looking at the trade from the vantage of the nineteenth century. The history of the route is enticing and glamorous, perhaps more so for our viewing it from such a distant time. The route now goes among peoples who have changed completely, many of them losing heritage and status. An outbreak of SARS, which complicated Thubron's journey and even wound him up in a mockery of quarantine, makes a threatening shadow over the initial parts of the book set in China. The feeling of abandonment runs throughout the lands here. In Afghanistan, he hears among the complaints from the Hazara people, "Now we have no school, no road, no clinic... The government does nothing. We fought in the jihad against the Russians, but..." or "The Taliban killed my cows!" Thubron remarks, "They were not pleading, but angry: angry at their exclusion, as if the Taliban's branding of them as separate and inferior were being reiterated in calmer times. 'Write about us,' they said." There are conversations with a hermit-like shepherdess, an escapee from Iranian military service, an over-affectionate drunk, and more.
Marco Polo brought back tales from these regions for his time, and Thubron has done so for ours. He is patient in trying to understand individuals or cultures. He is irreverent when the culture has gone amiss, but properly reverent as he visits archeological sites, mosques, or the tomb of Omar Khayyám in Nishapur (where he shows just how much Edward Fitzgerald put into his translation of _The Rubáiyát_, the "Moving Finger Writes" passage). He has plenty of erudition and knowledge of history, but also an appealing humility and self-doubt when confronting those of a foreign culture. He is as good at describing minor horrors, like the replacement of gold and silk bazaars in Samarkand by booths that sell DVDs, as he is at optimistic displays like the rock concert of young people in Teheran who are bored by the ayatollahs. It is amazing that in his sixties he made such a trip, but he obviously loves the endeavor. Near the beginning of the book, he tells why, and it is an example of his poetic and clear writing: "A hundred reasons clamour for your going... You go because you are still young and crave excitement, the crunch of your boots in the dust; you go because you are old and need to understand something before it is too late. You go to see what will happen."
86 of 98 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I traveled the same roads, and shared many of the same experiences, but I was there in search of specific historical events. The sights, sounds, smells were pushed aside and not allowed to register and interfere with my 'priorities'. I missed so much and this is why I wanted to read this book and see the journey through the eyes of another traveler.
I could not speak much about personal memories. I wanted to but I have never known how I would describe a Tibetan waif in Katmandu or shepherds along the KKH (Karokarum Highway). And if I could, I could not have done so as eloquently as Colin Thubron. I had to read this book to see through his eyes what I may have missed, and he made me realize that I missed a lot. Or is it simply that he is such a masterful writer?
Seeing it all again through his eyes has been a deeply beautiful experience for me, full of nostalgia. I found myself gazing wistfully off the pages and back to yesterday's horizons with an undescribable longing.
He captured it all beautifully and probably just in time because it is changing at lightning speed.
Kudos, my fellow traveler, kudos for the joy and understanding your picture words bring to us all.
Suzanne Olsson
New York
I could not speak much about personal memories. I wanted to but I have never known how I would describe a Tibetan waif in Katmandu or shepherds along the KKH (Karokarum Highway). And if I could, I could not have done so as eloquently as Colin Thubron. I had to read this book to see through his eyes what I may have missed, and he made me realize that I missed a lot. Or is it simply that he is such a masterful writer?
Seeing it all again through his eyes has been a deeply beautiful experience for me, full of nostalgia. I found myself gazing wistfully off the pages and back to yesterday's horizons with an undescribable longing.
He captured it all beautifully and probably just in time because it is changing at lightning speed.
Kudos, my fellow traveler, kudos for the joy and understanding your picture words bring to us all.
Suzanne Olsson
New York
65 of 76 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Colin Thubron's beautiful prose details his journey through modern Asia along the ancient Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean. He passes through China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey and describes the history, cultures and people along the way.
Thubron is, in my opinion, the most elegant living travel writer in the English language. His previous books include several like (The Lost Heart of Asia), that overlap this same area recounting travels in this area over the last 30 years.
The Silk Road is the trading corridor that went from China to the Mediterranean. Silk was one of the main products traded and gave its name to this road system. Other accounts include Marco Polo (highly recommended before reading this book), the Muslim traveller Ibn BattutaThe Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century, Robert Byron's travels The Road to Oxiana and several others whose accounts I found less penetrating.
Importantly, Thubron travels alone - a necessity for good travel writing because those who travel in groups inevitably turn to commentary on their pathetic companions rather than the country through which they are travelling. These accounts like "A Walk in the Woods" A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail) can be entertaining but they usually aren't very insightful. So if you're looking for humor, this book is not what you are looking for.
Thubron speaks some Chinese and Russian and must have an encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient and modern history of Central Asia. One of the great strengths of the book is that the author has studied and travelled in this region for decades.
He starts with Western China. The Chinese people that Thubron meets with would rather forget the recent past dominated by the world's greatest mass murderer, Mao. However, Mao's legacy lives on in the strict military control of the country. China is the poster-child for environmental pillage by third world countries seeking industrialization. You can't help but be depressed. The ruined civilizations buried by desert in Western China should give sufficient pause to the Communist Chinese but there is no sign of moderation. Thubron brushes by the northern reaches of Tibet enough to note that Tibet is in its dying stages as Communist suppression and Chinese immigration wipe out the cultural remnants.
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are more fascinating to me because the government is less oppressive and the area is less well-known to me. The history of these countries goes back thousands of years rather than hundreds. The ruined cities still have life near them in modern slap-dash cities that have sprung up since the ancient cities were destroyed by various conquerors - mostly Mongols.
Afghanistan seems to be one of the most hopeful areas of the journey even though Thubron is there soon after the Taliban is defeated. Iran reminds me of China in that the populace is not really interested in politics and would rather not be subject to ego-maniacal dictators. The last few countries like Iran, Syria and Turkey are not covered in the same depth probably because the author isn't as fluent in Turkish, Arabic and Farsi.
One underlying theme is the distrust of the West seen throughout his journey. Western culture has triumphed completely, but unfortunately all the culture is the worst culture. Pop culture, pornography, sexual license, drugs and materialism are rampant but the more important political foundations of the West - liberty, individualism, Christianity, and constitutional government - are nowhere to be found. If you have ever spent time in a 3rd world country listening to the myths and nonsense that is fervently believed by the native population, you won't be surprised to find that Thubron finds the same. Depressingly, there seems to be very little chance of East understanding West in the near future if the comments of the people Thubron visits are representative.
The only 2 quibbles I have with the book is that the maps could have been clearer and a bibliography would have been helpful.
So 4 stars for the best travel book I've read this year.
Thubron is, in my opinion, the most elegant living travel writer in the English language. His previous books include several like (The Lost Heart of Asia), that overlap this same area recounting travels in this area over the last 30 years.
The Silk Road is the trading corridor that went from China to the Mediterranean. Silk was one of the main products traded and gave its name to this road system. Other accounts include Marco Polo (highly recommended before reading this book), the Muslim traveller Ibn BattutaThe Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century, Robert Byron's travels The Road to Oxiana and several others whose accounts I found less penetrating.
Importantly, Thubron travels alone - a necessity for good travel writing because those who travel in groups inevitably turn to commentary on their pathetic companions rather than the country through which they are travelling. These accounts like "A Walk in the Woods" A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail) can be entertaining but they usually aren't very insightful. So if you're looking for humor, this book is not what you are looking for.
Thubron speaks some Chinese and Russian and must have an encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient and modern history of Central Asia. One of the great strengths of the book is that the author has studied and travelled in this region for decades.
He starts with Western China. The Chinese people that Thubron meets with would rather forget the recent past dominated by the world's greatest mass murderer, Mao. However, Mao's legacy lives on in the strict military control of the country. China is the poster-child for environmental pillage by third world countries seeking industrialization. You can't help but be depressed. The ruined civilizations buried by desert in Western China should give sufficient pause to the Communist Chinese but there is no sign of moderation. Thubron brushes by the northern reaches of Tibet enough to note that Tibet is in its dying stages as Communist suppression and Chinese immigration wipe out the cultural remnants.
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are more fascinating to me because the government is less oppressive and the area is less well-known to me. The history of these countries goes back thousands of years rather than hundreds. The ruined cities still have life near them in modern slap-dash cities that have sprung up since the ancient cities were destroyed by various conquerors - mostly Mongols.
Afghanistan seems to be one of the most hopeful areas of the journey even though Thubron is there soon after the Taliban is defeated. Iran reminds me of China in that the populace is not really interested in politics and would rather not be subject to ego-maniacal dictators. The last few countries like Iran, Syria and Turkey are not covered in the same depth probably because the author isn't as fluent in Turkish, Arabic and Farsi.
One underlying theme is the distrust of the West seen throughout his journey. Western culture has triumphed completely, but unfortunately all the culture is the worst culture. Pop culture, pornography, sexual license, drugs and materialism are rampant but the more important political foundations of the West - liberty, individualism, Christianity, and constitutional government - are nowhere to be found. If you have ever spent time in a 3rd world country listening to the myths and nonsense that is fervently believed by the native population, you won't be surprised to find that Thubron finds the same. Depressingly, there seems to be very little chance of East understanding West in the near future if the comments of the people Thubron visits are representative.
The only 2 quibbles I have with the book is that the maps could have been clearer and a bibliography would have been helpful.
So 4 stars for the best travel book I've read this year.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shadow of his other books
Colin Thubron is one of my all time favourite travel writers. I simply devoured his previous books, notably "In Siberia" and "The Lost Heart of Asia". Read more
Published 20 days ago by keetmom
2.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully detailed yet not engaging
The author wove stories of the Silk Road's history with memories from his own trips 10 or more years earlier and with minute details of what he found at sites just prior to... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Janet Eshenroder
4.0 out of 5 stars
Invited you to travel and learn along the way
"Yet to follow the Silk Road is to follow a ghost. It flows through the heart of Asia, but it has officially vanished, leaving behind it the pattern of its restlessness:... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Suzanne Dobbins
1.0 out of 5 stars
Colin Thubron is delusional, or a liar
Colin Thubron paints a colorful picture of his travels, but I can't escape the thought that his reported conversations in China are largely fabricated. Read more
Published 2 months ago by BJM
4.0 out of 5 stars
Recommend Shadow of the Silk Road
I found this book very interesting and well written. It took me to places I've heard of but had not researched so I learned what they were like historically and how they appear... Read more
Published 4 months ago by MURIEL T BARRON
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid descriptions
Colin Thubron vividly describes his experiences when he travelled the "Silk Road" - which we learn isn't really just one road, by the way. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Virginia
4.0 out of 5 stars
living shadows
A well written text. The aithor floats between present and past, bringing his story to life, aoded by his fluent knowledge of Mandarin and of the historical background of these... Read more
Published 7 months ago by traveller
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great resource for anyone taveling in Western China
Absolutely a great resourse for anyone traveling in western China and Central Asia. I have traveled to most of the places discribed (excpt Afganistan, and I have to say the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by John F. Fravel, Jr.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Something is not right....
Enjoyed the book. I am a big fan of Wilfred Thesiger's writing style so I found the author's language to be too elaborate. Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. Brandell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting off-the-beaten path travelogue
Colin Thubron takes an amazing journey through some of the off-the-beaten-path Silk Road countries via local, third-class transportation. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Ryan Roxx
