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Rating: 
Summary: CAPTIVATING INTRODUCTION TO A LEGEND WE KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT
Review: Francis Wood has clearly digested a wealth of historical data and translated those into a book which one would like to read in one sitting -- which is an inhuman undertaking given the sheer joy and shock of all the little anecdotes, background facts and human insights included in this captivating book.The "Silk Route" of course had silk as a predominant item of trade (you can expect interesting vignettes such as Chinese children tending pet silkworms on mulberry leaves) but there were countless other items that joined the caravans -- rhubarb, musk, diamonds, jade etc -- as did horses, elephants, lions and ostriches. Yet, apart from its economic clout in that period, this legendary network of roads across Central Asia (as opposed to one highway that most people believe Silk Road was) served as a bustling conduit for culture, languages, customs and faiths across the nations. It was veritably an eBay of the olden times! In her sobering language littered with intriguing trivia, Ms Wood takes us through centuries of interest in this road. It is refreshing to see her get brazenly outspoken about imperialistic motives towards the latter part of the 19th century that ruined the legendary route, when a lot of European merchants focused on pilfering away everything from cave Buddhas to gold. At nearly 300 pages, it is not a trivial tome, but I found it both accessible and entertaining. Oh, and it comes with a bunch of illustrations and pictures. If such a vivid historical production interests you, I highly recommend this informative book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Visually Rich and Expansive History
Review: The ancient trade network between East and West known as the Silk Road is one of history's great melting pots, and the world's most dynamic mixture of culture, language, and knowledge. Frances Wood uses the Silk Road as mostly a conceptual backdrop for more specific historical vignettes here, as a complete history of all the different cultures and societies involved, over the course of at least three millennia, would be prohibitively huge. Though there is some discussion of actual trade and the goods transported long distance and sold in the area's bazaars, Wood focuses on specific areas of interest, such as the mysterious Xiongnu people of ancient times, or the more modern dramatic journeys of explorers like Sven Hedin. A nice bonus is a debunking of some of the claims of Marco Polo, who surely traveled through the area but made many dubious descriptions of particular locations he probability didn't really see. Instead we hear the fascinating stories of other less-known but arguably more impressive travelers of the time, like Bento de Goes. Some of Wood's narratives get worrisomely far away from the Silk Road backdrop, and the tail end of the book is a bit of a slog with tedious coverage of latter-day explorers. However, the general appreciation for the importance of the Silk Road is the larger achievement of this book, and the frequent illustrations and photographs of forlorn landscapes and ancient masterpieces make this book a visual treat as well. [~doomsdayer520~]
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