The Silk Road is not a place, but a journey - a route from the edges of the Mediterranean to the central plains of China, through high mountains and inhospitable deserts. For thousands of years its history has been a traveller's history, of brief encounters in desert towns, snowbound passes and nameless forts. It was the conduit that first brought Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China, and the site of much of the 'Great Game' between 19th-century empires. Today, its central section encompasses several former Soviet republics, and the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. The ancient trade route controversially crosses the sites of several forgotten kingdoms, buried in sand and only now revealing their secrets. An "Armchair Traveller's History of the Silk Road" not only offers the reader a chronological outline of the region's development, but also provides an invaluable introduction to its languages, literature and arts. It takes a comprehensive and illuminating look at the rich history of this dynamic and littleknown region, and provides an easy-to-use reference source.
Clements pays particular attention to the fascinating historical sites which feature on any visitor's itinerary and special emphasis is also given to the writings and reactions of travellers through the centuries.
- ISBN10 1907973788
- ISBN13 9781907973789
- Publish Date 6 February 2014 (first published 20 January 2014)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 3 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher The Armchair Traveller at the Bookhaus
- Imprint The Armchair Traveller at the BookHaus
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English