Central Asia

Between these covers, the millennia ofmercantile and cultural exchange along the Silk Route are celebrated bytravellers and writers from Marco Polo to Sven Hedin, from William of Rubrickto Ella Maillart.  Kathleen Hopkirk hasspent a lifetime researching this vital heartland, traversed by five, inhospitabledeserts but united by ancient chains of trading oases: from the Buddhist Empireof Kushan, to the scholarly Islamic centre at Bukhara.