Rating: 
Summary: Forty Years Old but Very Timely Today
Review: Although Michener's book was written 40 years ago and is set more than ten years before that, it is very pertinent in light of the last few weeks events, and perhaps those of the next month or two. I read Caravans more than 20 years ago and was struck at that time by the extreme contrasts of a semi-barbaric society seeking to take baby steps toward joining the civilized world. Knowing Michener's scrupulous research practices, I have little doubt that he portrayed the Afghans accurately in their attempts to step up to a Twentieth, or perhaps only a Nineteenth century level of civilization. Recent events demonstrate that they failed. Although not correct on every point, Caravans is fairly good at demonstrating that backwardness of the Central Asian Mohamadden society and the immense hurdle that its world view presented to cultural advances. Unfortunately, his optimism on the point has proven misplaced over the years, indeed for that very reason. I am not aware of a better introductory work on this part of the world, except perhaps some of Robert Kaplan's excellent essay collections.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite adventure books of all time
Review: An amazing book about a diplomat's search for a missing American woman along the caravan routes of Afghanistan. Michener brings to life the sense of adventure and self-exploration that comes through travel in this fascinating part of the world. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the plot?
Review: Caravans by James A. Michener combines romance, comedy, adventure, and mystery all in one. Even if the United States was not focusing so intently on Afghanistan at present, I still would have very much enjoyed the book.The characters are very lifelike and the plot and setting are unique. However, the plot wasn't exactly compelling. It was overshadowed by the detailed descriptions of Afghani culture and history, which was interesting to read, but had the plot been strong along with the descriptions, I would have given the book a higher rating. At some points it feels as though Michener wrote a non-fiction informative novel, rather than fictional.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the plot?
Review: Caravans by James A. Michener combines romance, comedy, adventure, and mystery all in one. Even if the United States was not focusing so intently on Afghanistan at present, I still would have very much enjoyed the book. The characters are very lifelike and the plot and setting are unique. However, the plot wasn't exactly compelling. It was overshadowed by the detailed descriptions of Afghani culture and history, which was interesting to read, but had the plot been strong along with the descriptions, I would have given the book a higher rating. At some points it feels as though Michener wrote a non-fiction informative novel, rather than fictional.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the plot?
Review: Caravans was a flowing, easy to read book combining romance, comedy, adventure, and mystery. Even if the US were not concentrating so intently on Afghanistan, I would have still enjoyed reading this book. I found the characters lifelike and the plot unique. However, it seemed the plot was not the main focus of the story. It was overshadowed by description of Afghanistan, which was interesting to read, but had the plot been stronger, I would have given the book a higher rating.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the plot?
Review: Caravans was a flowing, easy to read book combining romance, comedy, adventure, and mystery. Even if the US were not concentrating so intently on Afghanistan, I would have still enjoyed reading this book. I found the characters lifelike and the plot unique. However, it seemed the plot was not the main focus of the story. It was overshadowed by description of Afghanistan, which was interesting to read, but had the plot been stronger, I would have given the book a higher rating.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel
Review: Caravans, like the other Mitchner novels, is all historical information except the plot. Caravans takes place in Afghanistan where an American woman name Ellen Jaspar has been missing for 13 months and no one knows where she is, so Herr Millar, a worker from the American Embassy goes to Afghanistan to find out where Ellen is or what happened to her. This book is very interesting to learn from especially after the September 11th tragedy. This book contains lots of information on Afghani culture in a fun and easy way to read.
Rating:
Summary: A definite read for our times
Review: Caravans, written four decades ago reads like today's news. For anyone wanting an inside view of Afghanistan this is must reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great History Lesson and Great Read!
Review: Don't be fooled by the "Harlequin Romance"-looking cover art. Caravans is a ripping good adventure/travelogue/history lesson, with some romance thrown in for good measure. The story is simple: An American girl who married an Afghani man is missing in Afghanistan. Her family is frantic, and a military man stationed in Afghanistan in 1946 is assigned to find out what happened to her. The story veers into some unexpected territory, and Michener delivers a TON of Historical perspective on the people and places of Afghanistan without ever making you feel like you're back in History class. (This is a VERY illuminating book to read after September 11th...) The characters are interesting, and the book just zooms along: I finished it in no time flat. My only complaint is the map in the beginning of the book: It's printed so dark that it's totally useless.
Rating:
Summary: Great History Lesson and Great Read!
Review: Don't be fooled by the "Harlequin Romance"-looking cover art. Caravans is a ripping good adventure/travelogue/history lesson, with some romance thrown in for good measure. The story is simple: An American girl who married an Afghani man is missing in Afghanistan. Her family is frantic, and a military man stationed in Afghanistan in 1946 is assigned to find out what happened to her. The story veers into some unexpected territory, and Michener delivers a TON of Historical perspective on the people and places of Afghanistan without ever making you feel like you're back in History class. (This is a VERY illuminating book to read after September 11th...) The characters are interesting, and the book just zooms along: I finished it in no time flat. My only complaint is the map in the beginning of the book: It's printed so dark that it's totally useless.
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