Product Description

On buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey. Covering over 7000 miles in eight months Thurbron recounts extraordinary adventures - a near-miss with a drunk-driver, incarceration in a Chinese cell during the SARS epidemic, undergoing root canal treatment without anaesthetic in Iran - in inimitable prose. "Shadow of the Silk Road" is about Asia today; a magnificent account of an ancient world in modern ferment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8491 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
Thubron (In Siberia, 2000, etc.) takes an arduous 7,000-mile journey following the ancient silk trade route from inland China to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.At the very least, his marathon expedition through desert, mountains and war-scarred landscapes testifies to the author's fortitude and resourcefulness. He's quarantined by Chinese authorities during the SARS epidemic, nearly killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision and forced to endure treatment of an abscessed tooth by a team of Iranian village dentists who don't use anesthetic. Thubron attends a rock concert staged in a Tehran military hospital, dodges suspicious guards at several remote border crossings and searches out the tombs of Genghis Khan, Omar Khayyam and Ayatollah Khomeini. He augments his trenchant narrative with impressive historical background and evocative lyrical prose: "In late autumn the road traversed a near-desert plain. From time to time a faint, brown wash overhung the horizon, as if a watercolorist had started painting mountains there, then forgotten them." Even the most erudite readers, however, may find themselves daunted and disoriented by this lengthy sojourn in such consonant-laden regions as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, complete with their obscure attendant cultural histories. Until 1498, when the Portuguese sailed around Africa and found a safer route to China's riches, the Silk Road across central Asia was traveled by successions of invaders. East-bound from Rome, Greece and Arabia came poetry, metals and conquering armies. From China, traders carried westward such wonders as silk, paper, gunpowder and the mechanical clock. Thubron carefully picks through the cultural and archeological remains of a half-dozen societies with a discerning eye and a scholar's discipline, pausing to note the fallout from such relatively recent arrivals as China's murderous Red Guards, the Taliban and ruthless Afghan warlords. He also pauses long enough to meet and introduce a host of memorable characters, including a Chinese college dean and some Afghan truck drivers.An impressive, rewarding and occasionally exhausting trek, most suitable for the hardcore travel reader. (Kirkus Reviews)

Newbooks - Barbara Harrison
`It is beautifully written and a fascinating read'

Woman & Home
`Travel writing at its best'

Customer Reviews

Picture of the former Silk Road Route
The London based author, Colin Thubron, travelled through China, Central Asia, northern Afghanistan, Western Asia, and reached the capital of Silk Road, Antakya (Anoioch) in 8 months. He travelled with donkey, camels, third-class trains, buses, and jeep.

He describes an abundance of fascinating accounts in relation to those countries' history, politics, commerce, industry, and the history of the Silk Road. Having visited many relatively unknown parts of these countries and discovered a series of the factual events, he conveys a number of untold stories of kings, aristocrats, and landowners. The descriptions include the dramatic change of Xian between the beginning of the 1980s and 2000, a number of half-constructed or largely decayed villages, displaced communities following the pollution and disasters throughout China.

Colin Thubron clearly gives the local people's feelings, emotions, and struggles, that have been caused by the corrupt governments and totally disorganised bureaucracies. It is wonderfully written description of the Silk Road route in modern time.

wonderful hypnotic book
Colin Thubron is such an evocative writer. This is a fascinating read about a fascinating journey.

Travels in an unknown region
I enjoyed Mr Thubron's latest addition to his collection of travel books. The region visits in this book is relatively unknown in the West, even the bigger countries such as Kazakhstan do not feature regularly in the media. The author certainly gives those of us who know little of the region a very interesting taste of what life is like for the people's of central Asia and western China.

I enjoyed most the history of the places the author visited and equally enjoyable were the author's stories of discussions he had with people he met along the way as this gave an insight into their daily lives. Towards the end of the book her travel across Iran and this is arguably the best part of the book. Iran was never somewhere I'd have considered visiting before reading this book but having read it, Iran sounds like a fascinating place with friendly people. I found some of the descriptive passages (especially of places/locations) a bit long-winded but that aside, the book is well worth reading.