Life along the Silk Road: Second Edition
Product ID: 24857224
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In this long-awaited second edition, Susan Whitfield broadens her exploration of the Silk Road and expands her rich and varied portrait of life along the great pre-modern trade routes of Eurasia. This new edition is comprehensively updated to support further understanding of themes relevant to global and comparative history and remains the only history of the Silk Road to reconstruct the route through the personal experiences of travelers. In the first 1,000 years after Christ, merchants, missionaries, monks, mendicants, and military men traveled the vast network of Central Asian tracks that became known as the Silk Road. Whitfield recounts the lives of twelve individuals who lived at different times during this period, including two characters new to this edition: an African shipmaster and a Persian traveler and writer during the Arab caliphate. With these additional tales, Whitfield extends both geographical and chronological scope, bringing into view the maritime links across the Indian Ocean and depicting the network of north-south routes from the Baltic to the Gulf. Throughout the narrative, Whitfield conveys a strong sense of what life was like for ordinary men and women on the Silk Road, the individuals usually forgotten to history. A work of great scholarship, Life along the Silk Road continues to be both accessible and entertaining. Review: Interesting Tales - I got this book out of curiosity about the old Silk Road. There were 11 tales, each focusing on a particular person who traveled the Silk Road in ancient times. The narration was heavy with facts and details, but not overwhelming. I found it an interesting read and got a real look into the various people who lived and traveled back then. Review: Nice read - Really enjoyed this book. Written in a different perspective than normal and provides a wealth of knowledge whilst keeping the research intrigued. I bought the kindle version first and then the paperback to keep to reread later or to gift away.
| Best Sellers Rank | #467,213 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #240 in Archaeology (Books) #518 in Asian History (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 76 Reviews |
C**M
Interesting Tales
I got this book out of curiosity about the old Silk Road. There were 11 tales, each focusing on a particular person who traveled the Silk Road in ancient times. The narration was heavy with facts and details, but not overwhelming. I found it an interesting read and got a real look into the various people who lived and traveled back then.
D**K
Nice read
Really enjoyed this book. Written in a different perspective than normal and provides a wealth of knowledge whilst keeping the research intrigued. I bought the kindle version first and then the paperback to keep to reread later or to gift away.
D**H
A great introduction to the Ancient Silk Road
A very readable and informative book. Great stories of life in the area and time. It’s well researched and documented, with many endnotes explaining the sources of her information. An excellent starting point to explore this interesting part of the world. I recommend reading it with Google Maps handy. That greatly improved my geographical understanding of the area.
L**Z
Combines intense research and recent archaeological finds with a narrative ...
Combines intense research and recent archaeological finds with a narrative flow. Vignettes that delve into the life of individuals living between the 6th and 10th centuries in Central Asia. Gripping and entertaining, well researched.
A**R
Amazing stories
What life along the silk road might really have been like in times of war and peace ...
G**Y
Five Stars
This gave me a good background of the region when I travelled in China
J**S
AP World History Review
Life Along the Silk Road was an overall good book. When first seeing the book it looks really lengthy and boring but it really surprised me how interesting it actually was. This book provides a good insight on what it was like to travel on the Silk Road. In each chapter of the book a new set of characters and their adventure on the trade network is presented and showcased. In each perspective as readers we see many changes in religion and culture that expanded in the time period. The author Susan Whitfield presents her purpose clearly. This purpose being to provide perspective to the lives of travelers on the Silk Road and their journeys. This purpose is shown in almost every section of the book making the purpose clear and concise. In ways it was hard to understand why she wrote this at first but as each story developed it became clearer and clearer on what she was trying to get across. In conclusion i was impressed with the layout and overall purpose of this book.
C**S
Too many notes, not enough maps
This may be the least enjoyable book I’ve ever read! There should be a map accompanying every story. The author refers to obscure places in nearly every sentence. I’ve gotten an atlas of ancient history but it is a nuisance. And, to make the reading yet more tedious, there are footnotes every few words. What were the author and the publisher thinking when they put out this horrid mess of a book? The stories are vaguely interesting, I think, but I don’t think I’ve yet read one complete paragraph without being referred to something else.
C**N
Very well researched and easy to read
A wonderful book!
A**R
Rich stories
These stories of the Silk Roads are a vivid portrayal
L**A
Very interesting way of describing history - I enjoyed this book
Very interesting way of describing history - I enjoyed this book, but was saddened when I realised that I had read the last chapter thinking I still had more to go.
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