Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
yeahwesley's review against another edition
3.0
Had to read this one for my Silk Road college class. The writing style is very accessible and even makes the book exciting! However, The author takes a very Eurocentric approach. Also, the author is less of a historian and more of a journalist, so it’s not necessarily the best historical scholarship. Regardless, it’s still a fascinating read that I didn’t mind having assigned to me!
highestiqinfresno's review against another edition
3.0
Fun and well-written, but not particularly informative.
abarrera's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard for me to describe HOW much I liked this book. First off, Hopkirk's work is fantastic. He covers a lot of ground but manages to keep it light. Taking into account the number of discoveries and cultures involved in the Silk Road, it's a great achievement to tell the story without getting tangled in it. His journalistic expertise clearly shines here.
The book covers the different archeological expeditions that uncovered some of the biggest archeological discoveries since the Tutankamon's chamber and only partially rivaled by the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. The story has it all, geopolitics, spies, accidents, deaths, forgeries, you name it. If someone shot a movie based on these stories, it would probably surpass any of Indiana Jones' movies.
I grew up with Dr. Jones, in a family of art and history professors, frustrated archeologists, and architects. It's fair to say, I'm a big fan of archeology and history. However, the sheer magnitude of the discoveries of China's Turkmenistan (Current Xinjiang and Gansu) highlighted in the book is staggering. From paintings, tablets, sculptures to key manuscripts including the earliest printed book ever. They also found key monuments, stupas, towns, cemeteries, and fortifications like the Jade Gate, the entry point to the ancient Chinese kingdom.
And maybe the most incredible thing is the heterogeneousness of the cultures and faiths involved. None of the previous or posterior archeological discoveries rivals the wealth of information on different cultures and ages that came out from the Taklamakan desert. And yet, its knowledge is quite limited, barely known outside of the Asian scholar circles. This book changes that, giving a powerful perspective on what was discovered there and the role of foreign archeologists (and all the associated criticism) in siphoning cultural relics out of China.
If you enjoy history, the Silk Road, archeology, and/or Asia cultures, this is a must-read book. Even if you only like a good adventure book, this is it.
The book covers the different archeological expeditions that uncovered some of the biggest archeological discoveries since the Tutankamon's chamber and only partially rivaled by the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. The story has it all, geopolitics, spies, accidents, deaths, forgeries, you name it. If someone shot a movie based on these stories, it would probably surpass any of Indiana Jones' movies.
I grew up with Dr. Jones, in a family of art and history professors, frustrated archeologists, and architects. It's fair to say, I'm a big fan of archeology and history. However, the sheer magnitude of the discoveries of China's Turkmenistan (Current Xinjiang and Gansu) highlighted in the book is staggering. From paintings, tablets, sculptures to key manuscripts including the earliest printed book ever. They also found key monuments, stupas, towns, cemeteries, and fortifications like the Jade Gate, the entry point to the ancient Chinese kingdom.
And maybe the most incredible thing is the heterogeneousness of the cultures and faiths involved. None of the previous or posterior archeological discoveries rivals the wealth of information on different cultures and ages that came out from the Taklamakan desert. And yet, its knowledge is quite limited, barely known outside of the Asian scholar circles. This book changes that, giving a powerful perspective on what was discovered there and the role of foreign archeologists (and all the associated criticism) in siphoning cultural relics out of China.
If you enjoy history, the Silk Road, archeology, and/or Asia cultures, this is a must-read book. Even if you only like a good adventure book, this is it.
nlgn's review against another edition
4.0
Very entertaining read. Keeping the dream of Indiana Jones alive... Defense of cultural imperialism rings a bit hollow though.
piratequeen's review against another edition
4.0
For a period of about 25 years, beginning at the turn of the 20th century, a number of archaeological expeditions, led by European explorers, were conducted along the paths of the old Silk Road that skirted the massive Taklamakan desert. These expeditions uncovered numerous fascinating sites, such as oasis towns, monasteries, and fortresses, all of them dating back to the heyday of the Silk Road in the 9th to 12th centuries. They found Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Manichaean artworks and manuscripts, textiles, and frescoes. Unfortunately, these explorers were less archaeologists and more opportunistic treasure hunters; as a result, dozens of sites were stripped bare of their frescoes (which were physically cut from the walls of temples), and hundreds of original manuscripts and documents were spirited away under the noses of the Chinese and socked away in museum libraries in London, Paris, and Berlin. The destruction these explorers caused was unthinkable, but their contributions to central Asian scholarship were huge.
This is a very interesting and exciting look at the adventures of some of Europe's most audacious and adventurous explorers, who lived in a time when there were still mysteries to be found. I was positively envious of these guys, who were still able to discover things, Indiana Jones style. Thanks to modern technology, life on Earth has become easier, the world more accessible; the downside is, it's taken away the thrill of the unknown. Everything has been mapped, photographed, and categorized, and venturing into the remotest places on earth doesn't present the challenge it once did. I don't intend to let this stop me, however; the first item on my bucket list is a trek along the Silk Road, from start to finish. It will be crazy and dangerous, and extremely awesome. And this plan of mine is a direct result of Peter Hopkirk and his amazing books about adventures in central Asia.
This is a very interesting and exciting look at the adventures of some of Europe's most audacious and adventurous explorers, who lived in a time when there were still mysteries to be found. I was positively envious of these guys, who were still able to discover things, Indiana Jones style. Thanks to modern technology, life on Earth has become easier, the world more accessible; the downside is, it's taken away the thrill of the unknown. Everything has been mapped, photographed, and categorized, and venturing into the remotest places on earth doesn't present the challenge it once did. I don't intend to let this stop me, however; the first item on my bucket list is a trek along the Silk Road, from start to finish. It will be crazy and dangerous, and extremely awesome. And this plan of mine is a direct result of Peter Hopkirk and his amazing books about adventures in central Asia.
directorpurry's review against another edition
4.0
This review is dedicated to Natalie, who asked me for it in class way back in April
guojing's review against another edition
5.0
This is one hell of a book. The adventures described herein are mind-bogglingly awe-inspiring, while the savagery is heart-breaking.
The beginning of the book gives a very odd perspective which is not duplicated in the body of the text; that is, I was expecting a mildly moralistic tale against the deprivations and thievery of the "foreign devils" - the Europeans and, in the case of Langdon Warner, American - who saved the archaeological heritage of the Silk Road. The Chinese consider these people - Aurel Stein, Albert von le Coq, Albert Grünwedel, Pelliot, etc. - to be treacherous thieves, robbing them of their heritage. However, as the rest of the book makes perfectly clear, these archaeologists actually saved this heritage. As a single example, on one of his expeditions, I believe it was Aurel Stein (so many different people described back and forth between chapters) who found something like 92 large Buddha statues under the sands of one of the lost towns, far too large to bring back. When he returned seven years later, they were each of them smashed to pieces! This was a typical scenario.
From locals who thought that the frescoes came to life at night and so the faces had to be scratched out, to military personnel lodged in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and causing all sorts of carnage, were it not for these brave and indomitable archaeologists, nothing would be known about the artistic heritage of the Silk Road, dating back in some cases to the 300s AD! They are heroes of archaeology, yet China considers them the most villainous of Occidentals.
Perhaps the most awe-inspiring of the stories - for myself at least, being as I am so fanatically enamored of words, scripts, and languages - is the discovery of the library of Tun-Huang. I first learnt about this maybe a decade ago, in my early teens; indeed, I was so amazed by the online digitized library that I made up my mind to learn Khotanese or Sanskrit or any of the other languages in which they were written so that I might contribute (two months of Sanskrit taught me that that was too much work than a 15 year old was willing to devote, but I did manage to irk the kids in my class by writing my notes in English though in the Devanagari script, so whenever they asked to copy I'd hand it over and say, "if you can").
This book is a favorite, and I am so saddened to see it end. I shall desperately search out any more by Peter Hopkirk or on this topic in the future.
The beginning of the book gives a very odd perspective which is not duplicated in the body of the text; that is, I was expecting a mildly moralistic tale against the deprivations and thievery of the "foreign devils" - the Europeans and, in the case of Langdon Warner, American - who saved the archaeological heritage of the Silk Road. The Chinese consider these people - Aurel Stein, Albert von le Coq, Albert Grünwedel, Pelliot, etc. - to be treacherous thieves, robbing them of their heritage. However, as the rest of the book makes perfectly clear, these archaeologists actually saved this heritage. As a single example, on one of his expeditions, I believe it was Aurel Stein (so many different people described back and forth between chapters) who found something like 92 large Buddha statues under the sands of one of the lost towns, far too large to bring back. When he returned seven years later, they were each of them smashed to pieces! This was a typical scenario.
From locals who thought that the frescoes came to life at night and so the faces had to be scratched out, to military personnel lodged in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and causing all sorts of carnage, were it not for these brave and indomitable archaeologists, nothing would be known about the artistic heritage of the Silk Road, dating back in some cases to the 300s AD! They are heroes of archaeology, yet China considers them the most villainous of Occidentals.
Perhaps the most awe-inspiring of the stories - for myself at least, being as I am so fanatically enamored of words, scripts, and languages - is the discovery of the library of Tun-Huang. I first learnt about this maybe a decade ago, in my early teens; indeed, I was so amazed by the online digitized library that I made up my mind to learn Khotanese or Sanskrit or any of the other languages in which they were written so that I might contribute (two months of Sanskrit taught me that that was too much work than a 15 year old was willing to devote, but I did manage to irk the kids in my class by writing my notes in English though in the Devanagari script, so whenever they asked to copy I'd hand it over and say, "if you can").
This book is a favorite, and I am so saddened to see it end. I shall desperately search out any more by Peter Hopkirk or on this topic in the future.
booktwitcher23's review against another edition
4.0
7/10 an easy to follow account of treasure seekers along the Silk Road, the author was a former journalist, and this book was written in 1980, and is a readable for the layman or amateur historian.