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Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East? (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Ahmed Rashid (Introduction)
Key Phrases: new great game, Central Asia, United States, Soviet Union (more...)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Part travelogue, part primer, Road meanders through the often-overlooked stans of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, with occasional excursions into the Xinjiang province of China, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. From 1997 to 2002, Rall endured a series of treks through the deserts and mountains of Central Asia. He had a knack for showing up at exactly the wrong time: he traveled through Kashmir just as the Taliban entered Pakistan as part of General Pervez Musharraf's 1999 coup, only to return a year later to lead a group of tourists into the middle of a siege as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan invaded Osh. Interspersed throughout this text, Rall's editorial cartoons provide breathing spaces in the form of graphic novellas. The author's travels are rife with indigestion, extortion, and 120-degree heat. Nevertheless, his awestruck descriptions of the region's natural beauty, crowded bazaars, and chaotic sporting tournaments will make adventurous readers want to see it all firsthand. The author takes a serious subject and infuses it with humor, examining the corruption, poverty, and political struggles that define Central Asia. Each page includes at least one illustration–photographs and maps as well as cartoons–and the volume includes historical summaries and country profiles that contextualize the events depicted.–Heidi Dolamore, San Mateo County Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Review

"Ted Rall's Silk Road to Ruin is a rollicking, subversive and satirical portrait of the region that is part travelogue, part graphic novel. It's fresh and edgy and neatly captures the reality of travel in the region." -- Lonely Planet Guide to Central Asia, 2007
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing (August 1, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1561634549
  • ISBN-13: 978-1561634545
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #551,723 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Ted Rall
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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new great game
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Central Asia, United States, Soviet Union, Aral Sea, Silk Road, Caspian Sea, Islam Karimov, Ferghana Valley, Tian Shan, Askar Akayev, Get Thrown Into Jail, Life Expectancy, Unemployment Rate, Oil Reserves, Best Way, Exchange Rate, Torugart Pass, Major Ethnic Groups, Karakoram Highway, Tulip Revolution, Natural Gas Reserves, Third World, Bush Administration, Amu Darya, Middle East
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10 Reviews
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4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Reveals American Contempt for Central Asians, September 5, 2007
Ted Rall's book is worth reading, for a damning self-portrait of an "ugly American" version 2006--huckster, radio host, cartoonist, coldly cynical, thrill-seeking, slumming Ivy Leaguer, brimming with smug condescension and contempt for those he encounters on various tours through Central Asia over the past decade.

Rall waltzes through some of the most violent and tragic regions on earth apparently in search of laffs, thrills, and chills. He gets them. A form of 21st century slumming, adventure tourism is the theme, including a brief kidnapping by the Taliban. Yet lives of ordinary Central Asians apparently matter little--he boasts of paying thousands of dollars in bribes to bump Central Asians from reserved seats on an airplane in order to escape with his tour group from a potentially violent attack. Despite claiming that the Central Asians were in no danger (if so, why were they leaving, and why had they bought tickets?), his message is clear: "I'm number one."

Although Rall clearly has talent as a writer and cartoonist, as well as determination and guts, he apparently lacks human compassion for the people in the region he exploits in his business ventures.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Dictators and Diarrhea, March 1, 2007
This book is a winner for both armchair travelers and those with a serious interest in international geopolitics. Intrepid journalist Ted Rall has become an expert on the obscure lands of Central Asia. This vast but little-covered area covers the five former Soviet republics known collectively as the "Stans," plus parts of Afghanistan and non-Chinese far-western China, all of which are strongly integrated in culture and history. Here Rall reports, with both journalistic insight and a brutally engaging writing style, about his extensive trips through the region. In an often rip-roaring read, we learn about the various horrors of traveling in Central Asia (the corruption and diarrhea there are both among the worst on Earth), while also gaining knowledge on the region's complex politics and infighting. Rall also provides enjoyable coverage of some of the region's offbeat personalities, locations, and culture - such as Turkmenistan's incompetent dictator Turkmenbashi, or a bizarre sport called buzkashi in which many meatheads die painfully for fun and glory.

Central Asia will soon be a world quagmire that will make the Middle East look like a hissy fit. Age-old ethnic tensions, corrupt dictators, irredentist meddling, and the hangover from Russian and Soviet brutalization will all soon combine with the worst of energy politics, as Central Asia's immense fossil fuel resources attract money and influence from power players. Ted Rall usefully clarifies what's really happening in Central Asia from the ground, and points out the geopolitical disaster that will occur if we merely view the region through the lenses of terrorism (i.e. everyone who disagrees with America is in league with Al Qaeda) or petropolitics (i.e. nations are given benefits or sanctions based merely on how much fossil fuel they can offer). Overall, this book is held back a bit by Rall's occasional tendencies toward hyperbole. His political points become repetitive as the book rumbles along, and the later chapters on energy and military matters get bogged down in simplistic conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, Rall's graphic novellas about his journeys add a great amount of fun to this book, but his regular four-panel political cartoons just aren't really that enlightening. Finally, the book is very richly illustrated, especially with candid photos of Central Asia's regular folks - but the maps are cramped and incomprehensible, which is a real problem if you like to see the precise locations of all the interesting places Rall talks about. [~doomsdayer520~] ]
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A jolly good read, September 26, 2006
By D. Hawthorne (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a jolly good read. The mixture of travelogue and political analysis is quite a surprising combination.

In this book, you will learn:
(1) Why Crocodile Dundee would not last five minutes in Central Asia (p.179);
(2) How to talk your way out of being shot by the Taliban (pp.130-137);
(3) How to stage a revolution without really trying (p.156);
(4) When a toilet stop in a minefield is a good idea (pp.180-181);
(5) What international sport considers the use of AK-47 bad form but not illegal (p.274);
(6) How not to photograph a rampaging horde of wild Mongol horsemen (p.276);
(7) How to survive eating in the world's worst restaurant (pp.109-113);
(8) Why "problema" is the most common word in Central Asia;
(9) Why drink driving sometimes is a good idea (p.199);
(10) How to pick up women or die trying (p.218).

Ted Rall has a writing style that blends serious political analysis with comedic understatement. Mr. Rall is keen to see that the USA does not spoil its chances for positive influence in Central Asia and thereby get access to the vast oil and gas reserves there. However, the Russians, Chinese, and Indians appear to have different ideas.

After reading this book, I am of the opinion that there is no way I am going to visit Central Asia. Apparrently, Mr. Rall is going back again soon.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?
A very entertaining and fascinating account of several difficult journeys throughout Central Asia in the 1990s when many of the "istans" were faced with independence from the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by K. Kline

3.0 out of 5 stars Great cartoons, unprecise and shallow background
As a cartoonist Rall is great, making striking points, with a beautiful line, about the absurdities of Central Asian administrations, governments and societies. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Kristian Ruge Bjaerke

5.0 out of 5 stars FASCINATING!!

Ted Rall travels to Central Asia - Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Read more
Published on September 29, 2007 by Gen Res

5.0 out of 5 stars Ted Rall is one smart cookie!
Ted Rall is best known to me for his inciteful and incendiary cartoons. I had no idea he is also an intrepid traveller and perceptive and wildly funny observer of human behavior... Read more
Published on February 12, 2007 by Amy Curtis

5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid insights
At a publisher's party an editor asked his newest staff writer to pitch him an idea for the wildest adventure travel piece he could think of - and Ted Rall proposed a setting in... Read more
Published on November 5, 2006 by Midwest Book Review

5.0 out of 5 stars read about the future NOW
Ted Rall is one of our leading political thinkers. He has made a number of investigative trips to the countries in Central Asia. Why should we care? Read more
Published on October 26, 2006 by Richard Cumming

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read
I make sure I read all of Ted Rall's columns, and I'm always amazed. A lot of writers write about subjects you already know about, they just word it differently from the others... Read more
Published on September 13, 2006 by Encourage thinking

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