The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War And Faith [Paperback]

Susan Whitfield (Editor), Ursula Sims-williams (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 193247613X | ISBN-13: 978-1932476132 | Publication Date: August 2004

This new catalogue on the Silk Road is published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Library. Containing high-quality reproductions of the exhibits and extended captions, this book will also consist of a substantial introduction by the editor, and essays by leading scholars presenting new research based on the great range of items displayed.

There has never been an exhibition of such a large part of the Aurel Stein collection, comprising manuscripts, paintings, artefacts in equal numbers and with emphasis on both religious and secular material and all languages and cultures. The catalogue will therefore be an essential purchase for all scholars of Central Asian and Silk Road history and art, and its extensive illustration and accessible texts will prove attractive to a much wider range of readers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Serindia Pubns (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193247613X
• ISBN-13: 978-1932476132
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,866,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary accomplishment, February 10, 2008

By 

John J. Emerson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War And Faith (Paperback)

"The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War And Faith" is the best book of its kind I've ever seen. It looks like a coffee-table book, with a lot of fascinating pictures of Silk Road manuscripts, artifacts, archaeological sites, and landscapes, but unlike most coffee table books the text is meaty and up-to-date. It's centered on early-Twentieth Century explorations (especially by Aurel Stein) in Uzbekistan, the Turkish republics, and the Chinese province of Xinjiang, with excellent brief chapters on methodological questions, the Stein expedition, sites at Samarkand, Khotan, Miran, Kroriana, Dunhang, and Gaochang, and a number of other topics of great interest. (However, the previous reviewer is probably right that it isn't an especially good book for someone relatively new to the subject.)

Especially interesting to me were the photos of manuscripts (mostly Buddhist, Manichaean, or Zoroastrian) in fifteen or so languages and twelve or thirteen different scripts: Sogdian, Uighur, Mongol, Manichaean, Pahlavi, Tibetan, Chinese, Turkish Runic, Brahmi, Kharosthi, Judeo-Persian, early modern Persian, and possibly Greek (on Kushan coins). But there's something for everyone: graphic art, sculpture, architecture, household items, and knicknacks.

This book belongs in the library of everyone interested in the history of the Silk Road. (If they can afford it, which I can't yet.)

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Silk Road, September 1, 2006

By 

T. Shepherd (West Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War And Faith (Paperback)

A good history of sorts but disjointed. Several place names are not on the map. This should be checked before publication of this type book. A glossary fo names and who they are is missing. But still good info in this book. My fourth read on this subject.