Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
The Silk Road.......2006-09-02
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.
Customer Reviews:
The silk road revealed.......2007-01-27
Hopkrik takes a break for his usual Great Game stories to explore the Central Asian deserts that have long been forgotten. This book includes a brief introduction to the Silk Road and China,s relations with Barbarians. The bulk of the book is focused on the explorers who penetrated its mysteries and their tales. From Sven Hedin to Aurel Stien explorers were removing the treasures of this hidden landscape. These treasures unlocked
important history until the Chinese decided to prevent their history from being pilfered away to foreign museums. For those who are curious about archeology or just love Hopkrik this is a great book. It is not up to par with his usual stories that everyone would enjoy so read selectively.
Archeothefts in Central Asia.......2006-09-02
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road written in 1980 by the now best-selling author of The Great Game Peter Hopkirk can rightfully be annoverated among classics of archeological history such as Ceram's "Gods, Graves and Scholars". This concise but extremelly well detailed (journalistic cut is evident!) work through brief biographies and excerpts of long travels and explorations plunges us into archeological surveys carried out by Westeners in Central Asia Tarim basin from the 1890's to the 1930's. In that period archeologists and explorers were the heros of the day and names such as Sven Hedin, Aurel Stein, Paul Pelliot and Albert von le Coq were well known. After the closure of Chinese bounderies to foreigners in the 1930's these ante litteram Indiana Jones were forgotten and Serindian culture and Gandahara art only captured scholarly interest. Today all archeological digs in the Middle and Far East have been re-evalutated and Western and harbouring countries public opinion now believe great damage has been done to many historical sites expecially in those cases in which archeological artifacts have been subtracted and removed to Western Museums. All the tombraiders of this book behaved exactly this way even if the times and the habits of the period consented it. But ask a Chinese today....
However, if we suspend moral judgement the adventures and biographies described are incredibly entertaining. From their juvenile dreams, to their meticulous organization we follow the archeothieves through the magnificent and frightful landscapes of the Taklamakan Desert among buried towns and cave temples full of brillant frescos and ancient manuscripts. We meet sleaky forgers and bribable guardians of ancient libraries (Tun-huang manuscripts all come from here), while we face episodes of danger and heroism. I read the book in less than two days, I refreshed my shaky Central Asian culture, I remembered how much I loved Ceram's, Wooley's and Carter's books and I gave Harrison Ford's semblance to Sven Hedin! Enjoy it!
Yes Virginia, there really was an Indiana Jones.......2006-07-21
This book is about the first explorers and archaeologists to make it to the most remote parts of Central Asia, where, in areas like Taklamakan, once upon a time before climatic changes, prosperous Buddhist, Nestorian Christian, Chinese, Greek and Hindu civilizations thrived along the trade routes between Cathay and ancient Rome. Taklamakan was surrounded on three sides by vast mountain ranges almost twice as high as the European alps; on the last side was the vast Gobi desert. A hundred years ago, there were no roads, cars, airplanes, radios, or GPS and few water sources to make travel easier, but rather hostile natives, wolves, 130F heat, and -25F cold to make travel there even less inviting. It was so remote that its name in Turki means that "If you go in, you won't come out."
As the British approached Central Asia from India, and the Russians from the North, and rumors of lost civilizations, treasure palaces and pleasure domes made their way to Europe and Japan; intrepid adventurers explored - and carted off by camel caravan - the remains of these civilizations.
The explorers were larger than life: Sir Aurel Stein, an Anglo-Hungarian, Sven Hedin, a Swede, Albert von Le Coq, a German of Huguenot origin, Paul Pelliot a French philologist with a photographic memory, Count Otani, a Japanese Buddhist monk, close relative of the Emperor and probable spy, and Professor Langdon Warner of Harvard. Last but far from least, is a semi-literate tribesman whose endeavors as an artful forger in a Central Asian oasis made fools of Oxford's best philologists. All this makes for an incomparable read.
How often does one read of a British diplomat urging that crossing a 18,000 ft peak and a 3 mile glacier three times during a blizzard to save the life of a frost-bit fellow traveler he met on the way be recognized by making the hero a Knight of the Hospitaliers of Saint John of Jerusalem?
Hopkirk also questions and describes the ethics of removing these treasures from their Central Asian homes to store them in vaults in London, Berlin and elsewhere. Not without sympathy to both those who claim that the treasures should never have been removed, and to those who note that most of the treasures left behind were plundered or vandalized later on, he leaves the issue to his readers' judgment.
I heartily recommend this book.
A Good Book.......2006-03-08
In FOREIGN DEVILS ON THE SILK ROAD, Hopkirk recounts the travels of several explorers in Central Asia, their encounters and the artifacts they came away with. Hopkirk doesn't go into tremendous detail about each explorer or the region, which makes this a rather quick but still interesting read. The book, however, does serve as an excellent primer on the region.
There are a few other reviews which assert that the countries which explored the region should return to China the artifacts they removed, and that Hopkirk endorses the idea that, were it not for their removal, these items would have been destroyed.
Whatever your personal position on the return of these items, Hopkirk does not personally endorse the above statement in the book -- instead, he is merely quoting one of the explorers involved.
The Great Game.......2004-04-13
Mr. Hopkirk in all of his works is accurate, profound and should be mandatory reading for all Foreign Service personnel. Having done Central Asia, the book was the "bible" in knowing the intimate details needed to not only do business in the post-Soviet era, but just in being able to discuss and move within the people where many thousands could not even bring voice to such concepts in the old days, which today are only "chatted" about in remote areas. Hopkirk rips at the fabric of humanity in what the west thinks is proper and what is reality in an eastern environment with its many passionate, intelligent, warm, and emotionally infectious people. I have read all of Peter's works several times and I continue to do so. You just have to be there to know that Hopkirk hits the nerve. It's just too much!!
G. Jannotta
Book Description
The Mogao grottoes in China, situated near the oasis town of Dunhuang on the fabled Silk Road, constitute one of the world's most significant sites of Buddhist art. In some five hundred caves carved into rock cliffs at the edge of the Gobi desert are preserved one thousand years of exquisite
murals and sculpture. Mogao, founded by Buddhist monks as an isolated monastery in the late fourth century, evolved into an artistic and spiritual center whose renown extended from the Chinese capital to the far western kingdoms of the Silk Road. Among its treasures are miles of stunning wall
paintings, more than two thousand statues, magnificent works on silk and paper, and thousands of ancient manuscripts, such as sutras, poems, and prayer sheets, which in 1900 were found sealed in one of the caves and then dispersed to museums throughout the world.
Illustrated in color throughout, Cave Temples of Mogao combines lavish photographs of the caves and their art with the fascinating history of Mogao, Dunhuang, and the Silk Road to create a vivid portrait of this remarkable site. Chapters discuss the development of the cave temples, the iconography
of the wall paintings, and the extraordinary story of the rare manuscripts, including the oldest printed book in existence, a ninth-century copy of the Diamond Sutra. The book also describes the long-term collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute and Chinese authorities in conservation
projects at Mogao as well as the caves and the museum that can be visited today. The publication of this book coincides with the centenary of the discovery of the manuscripts in the Library Cave.
Book Description
The Silk Road, a series of ancient trade routes stretching across Central Asia to Europe, evokes exotic images of camel trains laden with bales of fine Chinese silk, spices, and perfume, of desert oases surrounded by snow-capped mountains, of bustling markets thronging with travellers buying and selling grapes, coriander, Baltic amber, and Mediterranean coral. Along this route, silks were sent from China to ancient Rome; princesses were dispatched in marriage alliances across the deserts; bandits and thieves launched attacks throughout history.
Covering more than 5,000 years, this book, lavishly illustrated with photographs, manuscripts, and paintings from the collections of the British Library and other museums worldwide, presents an overall picture of the history and cultures of the Silk Road. It also contains many previously unpublished photographs by the great explorers Stein, Hedin, and Mannerheim.
More than just a trade route, the Silk Road witnessed the movement of cultural influences. Frances Wood traces the story of the civilizations and ideas that flourished and moved along its vast geographical expanse. Indian Buddhism was carried into China on the Silk Road, initiating a long history of pilgrimages along the lonely desert routes; Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, and Islam also made their way eastwards along its route.
The nineteenth century saw a new interest in Central Asia and the Silk Road, as Russia and Britain vied for power on the frontiers of Afghanistan. A new breed of explorer, part archaeologist, part cartographer, part spy, was seen on the Silk Road, while some of the ancient cities, long buried in sand-blown dunes, began to give up their secrets. This book brings the history of the Silk Road alive--from its beginnings to the present day, revealing a rich history still in the making.
Customer Reviews:
excellent book!.......2007-01-29
This book is full of interesting facts and it takes you in a cultural voyage the whole time. I found it easy to read, informative and engaging.
Photogenic Silk roads.......2007-01-04
Just for the photos alone, this book is worth purchasing. In addition, it provides a fascinating overview of the history of the various cultures, religions, trade products, explorers and adventurers who have made the words "silk road" evocative of a mythical and exotic time and place.
A Magnificent Panorama.......2006-11-13
Fraces Wood's SILK ROAD is a highly readable if somewhat compact survey of the Silk Road which manages to encompass history (interesting discussion of Marco Polo among other things), geography, and culture. This is an excellent introduction to an area of the world, Central Asia and the Roof Of The World, which is likely to become increasingly important as well as accessible. I would suggest reading this book before starting to read very much about The Great Game (Peter Hopkirk's Central Asia books, Meyer's TOURNAMENT OF SHADOWS), or indeed about Central Asia in general. Documentation appears excellent as one would expect of a scholar of Wood's background and credentials. The writing style is exemplary; this is am far more readable treatiste on the subject than the English ranslation of Luce Boulnois' SILK ROAD (which seems to have lacked vigourous or at least effective editing.)
The Silk Road: 2000 years in the Heart of Asia.......2006-06-25
The Silk Road follows the caravan routes taken during the history of the jade trade. It gives interesting historial stories, great photos of art, architecture, people places, over two thousand years of cultural, political and grographical changes along this vast corridor.
The information in the book is surprising and tantalizing. One wants to find out more about certain historiacal figures, cultural transformations, and changing attitudes.
I enjoyed it tremendously.
I don't know how good this book is because Amazon has been unable to ship it to me in 8 months........2005-08-12
Please note: Although the website says this book usually ships in 24 hours, I have been waiting for my copy for 8 months. Therefore, I have no idea how good this book is.
Book Description
A celebration of the cultural heritage of the countries along the Silk Road, this book is a detailed, lavishly illustrated exploration of the the ancient trade route between Europe and Asia, more specifically between Rome and the old Chinese capital of Xian. The author provides a comprehensive history of the Silk Road and examines many of the most celebrated works of art discovered in each country, and sets them in their historical and geographical context. Drawing freely on anecdotes, and literary and historical sources, he examines the lives of the merchants and other travellers who used this route and the way in which their activities related to the works of art that were created. Vignettes and poems from the heyday of the great trading route punctuate a lively and colourful book, which also benefits from Antonia Tozer's exceptionally evocative photographs of landscapes and people.
Chapters range from Precursors and The Manufacture of Silk, through China and Central Asia to Rediscovery in the Twentieth Century and Lost Art of the Silk Road. There is a glossary of foreign and technical terms, as well as chronologies for each period of history for the main sections of the Silk Road, and a bibliography and index.
Customer Reviews:
Merchants as Instruments of Civilization.......2007-08-10
Jonathan Tucker offers us not only a history and an art and architecture book, he provides us a feeling for the merchants and scholars who traveled east and west across the expanse of Asia for profit, for knowledge, and for adventure. The hundreds of fine colored photographs, the many interspersed maps, and quotations from poetry and contemporary travelers aid our armchair journeys across time and cultures. Arranged much like a guidebook, the author starts in Xian, China, and takes us westward along the various land routes of the Silk Road, with southern spurs to Afghanistan and India as well as northern routes to the Aral and Caspian areas. Although the various wars of empire over the past 2,000 years tend to merge and blur by the time the reader approaches the end, we do manage to appreciate the influences of art, technology, and design of one people upon another. We see how empire-building and its associates bloodshed and city destruction had a strong economic basis, and the encouragement of trade and protection of caravans from brigands were key responsibilities of kings and khans.
The Art Media Resources edition I own has a number of typographical errors, chiefly hard hyphens and spaces that were not removed in digital production. The style is dry and direct but easy to follow.
Readers of all the other historical books on the Silk Road that focus on music, religion, and military matters, as well as modern tourists seeking the unusual, will find this large book a perfectly worthy supplement. And if you have no such interest in Silk Road studies but are curious, then by all means begin here.
Product Description
This volume is about the long-neglected, but decisive influence of Uygur patrons on Dunhuang art in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Through an insightful introduction to the hitherto little-known early history and art of the Uygurs, the author explains the social and political forces that shaped the taste of Uygur patrons. The cultural and political effects of Sino-Uygur political marriages are examined in the larger context of the role of high-ranking women in medieval art patronage.
Careful study of the iconography, technique and style sheds new light on important paintings in the collection of the British Museum in London, and the Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet, in Paris, and through comparative analysis the importance of regional art centres in medieval China and Central Asia is explored. Richly illustrated with line drawings, as well as colour and black-and-white plates.
Book Description
Mapping Asia presents an authoritative selection of the most important antique maps of Asia and the Middle East produced from the time of Alexander the Great to the early nineteenth century, by cartographers from England, France, Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Italy, and China. A fascinating visual chronicle of the maps and their makers, this book explores the history of Europe's discovery of lands to the east, from Constantinople to present-day Alaska. It tells the stories of the thriving trade that linked east and west beginning with the ancient Silk Road, the explorers — such as Magellan and Sir Francis Drake — who continually searched for new lands and routes to reach the east beginning in the fifteenth century, and the indigenous peoples who struggled to retain their autonomy in the face of European missionary activity and influence.
Mapping Asia reproduces in full color 80 beautifully rendered and rare maps, more than 40 of which have never been published for the general public. Each map is accompanied by an accessible essay that provides extensive background on the mapmaker and how the map was originally produced, and describes the geography, sites, and details on the map. Most of the maps feature fascinating flourishes, cartouches, and curious details, such as camel caravans making their way across the Silk Road, illustrations of native plants and animals, battle scenes and cityscapes.
Book Description
In 1998 renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Project, Inc., a nonprofit foundation devoted to the living arts of peoples of traditional Silk Road lands. One of the major components of this exciting, multiyear venture has been the commissioning of new works by composers from Silk Road regions to be played in concerts and festivals throughout the world. An equally fascinating part of the project is the exploration of ways that traditional cultural expression can help revitalize contemporary culture, a goal exemplified by this volume, itself part of the Silk Road Project activities.
The greater Silk Road encompassed certain sea routes and the loose system of trails that crossed the mountains and deserts of Central Asia to connect East Asia and the Mediterranean. This historical network, at its height from the second century B.C.E. until the fourteenth century, was the most cosmopolitan area on earth. Merchants carrying fine silks and lacquers westward from China would mingle with traders bringing fragile Roman glass to the east or with Indians seeking markets for carved ivory cosmetic boxes and gold ornaments for fashionable women. It was by these routes, too, that the religions of Buddhism and Islam, among others, spread throughout Asia.
This richly illustrated, lively book is keynoted by Yo-Yo Ma's candid insights into contemporary music and the Silk Road. Distinguished contributors who explore the present-day Silk road and its absorbing history include a composer, an ethnomusicologist, an archaeologist, a photographer, a scientist, a film critic, and two art historians.
Customer Reviews:
Picture the Silk Road.......2003-10-04
Even without the essays, ALONG THE SILK ROAD would be a visually fascinating book. The numinous photographs by Kenro Izu are art in themselves, and I looked at all the other pictures, too, before reading the text. The great variety has allowed the designer to create a book that is dynamic on the page, and the pictures themselves show everything from ancient art objects to present-day Uyghur street musicians, from landscape to Buddhist imagery on silk. They catch something of the scope of time, geography, and cultural sweep that the Silk Road Project is addressing in many ways. I thought the variety of articles worked very well, too: interview, personal reflection, travelogue, and sound scholarship with a light touch. The different voices and topics make clear that the project has room for many approaches to exploring the contacts, differences, and fusions of a vast region that has for eons been bound up in all sorts of exchanges and reciprocal influences, most of which I knew nothing about until I read this book. It's a great introduction to what a deeply humane America artist, Yo-yo Ma, has been up to recently, and more importantly to a part of the world that has stimulated him and his fellow artists. As the recent events in Afghanistan and Iraq have demonstrated, our fate is bound up with a part of the world that most of us don't know enough about. The good news is that learning about the region can set you thinking all sorts of new and exciting things.
hit and miss.......2003-07-03
Contents:
Introduction by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis
1. Conversation with Yo-Yo Ma by Ted Levin [music]
2. Melodic Migration in NW China by Bright Sheng [music]
3. Fashioned from Fiber by Elizabeth Barber [textiles]
4. Astrology and a Japanese Star Mandala by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis [astrology]
5. Sacred Sites along the Silk Road by Kenro Izu [photography]
6. Traveling Technologies by Merton C. Flemings [metallurgy]
7. Iranian Cinema by Hamid Naficy [film]
As the table of contents shows, this introductory work is rather a mixed bag in both quality and content, much of it originally published elsewhere in longer form. Hits include the pieces on music, textiles and metallurgy. The piece on astrology probably won't find a general audience and the pop art chapter on Iranian film seems oddly out of sync with the rest. Photos and illustrations are good. Text is a double-spaced 144 pages with fairly wide margins. There are irritations such as the p. 42 suggestion identifying the ancient Xiong Nu as ancestors of modern Hungarians that show outside review was needed (the common blunder of confusing Huns and the similar sounding Hungarians). Bright Sheng's piece discusses White Mongols and Yellow Mongols without really explaining the terms and one has to wonder why we have the music composer writing about history. Elizabeth Barber's piece shows the influence of the theories of Victor Mair, with whom she has worked. These theories of ancient Iranian influence on China (what Mair terms the "East Asian heartland") are not so universally accepted as the text suggests, or, at least, not everyone discusses them as much as does Mair. One gets the feeling that the book was thrown together fairly quickly and haphazardly in order to have merchandise to sell at the concerts of Yo-Yo Ma's worldwide Silk Road tour. In these circumstances it was probably too much to hope that it would have the same excellent quality as the tour itself.
Trading Cultures.......2003-04-14
The world's two largest Buddhist sculptures were once at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. There, travelers found not only lodgings and supplies but also Buddhist instruction. It was one of the stops on the Silk Road, running from E Asia to the Mediterranean cities of Aleppo, Antioch, Sidon and Tyre.
19th-century German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen thought up the term Silk Road. But the road was much older than that, at its busiest from about 2,200 years ago, until about 600 years ago. It was kept up, for farflung trade in carved ivory cosmetic boxes, cotton, gems, gold ornaments, horses, incense, jade, lacquer ware, linens, Roman glass, silk, spices, tea and woolens. But it also was a way for culture and know-how to be swapped. For example, from the east westward, the road spread knowing how to smelt metal and make cast iron, glass, gunpowder and steel.
Particularly sections on cultural trading in music I found most interesting. Sometimes it's not obvious why we need to know history. But in this case it's long ago, but not long gone. Ancient musical influences still are seen today. For example, qin opera in Shaanxi province has happy tunes, which is common in Chinese music. But it also has sorrowful tunes, which isn't common. They're based on a scale of 8 pitches in the octave. They're also sung in a shouting style. Neither's common in Chinese music. But both are, in the music of Central Asia, where they came from during Silk Road times.
ALONG THE SILK ROAD also brought up a musical mystery. The first town at which east-bound Silk Road travelers stopped inside China was Dunhuang. There, merchants, pilgrims and traders built Buddhist temples inside the rock, in the Mogao caves, about 1,400-1,500 years ago. They also had painted about 45,000 wall paintings. Many dealt with the Western Pure Land, the supposed source of all good music. So some even had music scores, in ancient notation. Modern music scholars feel they know the pitches. They don't agree on rhythm and meter.
However, the money needed for further research may be out there. In 1998 world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Project, Inc. The project's a nonprofit foundation to help artists nowadays in Silk Road lands. It's most known, since winter 2001, for paying for music works played in concerts and festivals around the world.
Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis has edited a clear, nicely illustrated book. She sets the stage for the more in-depth CAVE TEMPLES OF MOGAO by Roderick Whitfield. Her sections on music are invaluable for THE HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOLS OF GOD: MUSICAL TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA by Theodore Levin and CARAVAN TO AMERICA: LIVING ARTS OF THE SILK ROAD by John S Major and Betty J Belanus.
Book Description
Silk is one of China's major contributions to world civilization, the secrets of its cultivation closely guarded for generations. The famous network of trade routes between West and East is still known as the Silk Road. The organization and techniques of Chinese silk production, the uses of the silk produced--both bolts and made-up pieces--and the types and styles of its ornament are celebrated in this richly illustrated and accessible book, the first general survey to be published in English.
Shelagh Vainker traces the cultural history of silk in China from its Neolithic origins to the twentieth century and considers its relationship to the other decorative arts. She traces the role of silk in Chinese history, trade, religion, and literature. Drawing on the most recent archaeological evidence from other, less perishable, media such as jades and bronzes—as well as paintings, poems, and other texts—Chinese Silk brings together material available until now only in Chinese. Recent acquisitions by public and private collections in the United States and Europe are also noted. The result is a book that illuminates the luxury of silk throughout the ages.
Customer Reviews:
An impressive and seminal work of outstanding scholarship.......2004-06-06
Chinese Silk: A Cultural History by Shelagh Vainker (Assistant Keeper of Eastern Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England) is a detailed history of silk in China ranging from its Neolithic origins down to the twentieth century. Relating the use of Chinese silk to other decorative arts, and drawing extensively from archaeology, paintings, poems, and other texts, Vainker traces the role of silk in Chinese history, trade, religion, and literature. Chinese Silk is an impressive and seminal work of outstanding scholarship, would make a superb choice as a community library Memorial Fund acquisition, as well as an essential, core addition to academic library Cultural History collections.
Average customer rating:
- Comprehensive guide through the ages.
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Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road
Johannes Kalter , and
Margareta Pavaloi
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
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Traditional Textiles of Central Asia
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Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
ASIN: 050097621X |
Book Description
The Silk Road evokes images of heavily laden caravans crossing endless deserts, steppes, and mountain ranges to reach the markets of wealthy oasis towns. From the second century B.C., this network of merchants' routes, well over 4,000 miles long, linked China and the Roman Empire. It served the trade of luxury goods, notably silk, and stimulated the spread of religion, culture, and art.
The republic of Uzbekistan, with its ancient urban cultural centers of Bukhara, Chiwa, and Samarkand, is the heartland of the Silk Road. The evolving history of the region is clearly explained here in the context of its complex geography, together with analyses of the architecture, the art of the book, Islamic arts and crafts, and the rich variety of textiles of the region.
Central Asia's position at the heart of the Eurasian landmass naturally attracted a long succession of conquerors, traders, envoys, and missionaries. People of many different religions, languages, and cultures met, and between the nomads of the steppes and the settled population of the cities there was a regular exchange of goods and ideas. The cultural history of the region is illustrated with pictures of archaeological finds and ethnographical objects from European and Uzbek museums and private collections, many published for the first time. 712 illustrations, 437 in color.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive guide through the ages........2000-05-25
This German collaboration does well in discussing the general history of the region from the pre-Islamic Sogdian and Bactrian kingdoms, to the khanates and the intrigues of the Great Game to the present day independant country.
Uzbekistan itself, strangely enough, is largely a Soviet era creation. The present borders include the historically important towns of Samarkand and Burkhara (and much of the Fergana Valley), much to the annoyance of Tadjikistan. Thus, the work focusses on the regional definition of Uzbekistan rather than as a people. (The Uzbeks trace their name from Ozbeg, a leader of tribes of Mongol descent in the 14th Century).
Vivid pictures of works of art as well as early photographs chronicle the cultural sophistication in what was once the crossroads of the greatest civillizations in antiquity. An in depth analysis of the different patterns and motifs in carpets points attest to the subtle influences in the region. The book cannot be faulted on its detail of its analysis of artifacts and works of art. Long a people with a nomadic inclination, such influences did not necessarily remain rooted for long, and these remain as probably its most reliable catalog of its past.
Thus said, the book is informative to the point of being somewhat staid in its narrative. Not much is said about life after the transition from the former Uzbek SSR to an independant country. The work is obviously of some national importance as the President of the new Republic provides the forward.
Recommended if you hold more than a casual interest in the region.
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