When a Chinese monk broke into a hidden cave in 1900, he uncovered one of the world’s great literary secrets: a time capsule from the ancient Silk Road. Inside, scrolls were piled from floor to ceiling, undisturbed for a thousand years. The gem within was the Diamond Sutra of AD 868. This key Buddhist teaching, made 500 years before Gutenberg inked his press, is the world’s oldest printed book. The Silk Road once linked China with the Mediterranean. It conveyed merchants, pilgrims and ideas. But its cultures and oases were swallowed by shifting sands. Central to the Silk Road’s rediscovery was a man named Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born scholar and archaeologist employed by the British service. Undaunted by the vast Gobi Desert, Stein crossed thousands of desolate miles with his fox terrier Dash. Stein met the Chinese monk and secured the Diamond Sutra and much more. The scroll’s journey—by camel through arid desert, by boat to London’s curious scholars, by train to evade the bombs of World War II—merges an explorer’s adventures, political intrigue, and continued controversy. The Diamond Sutra has inspired Jack Kerouac and the Dalai Lama. Its journey has coincided with the growing appeal of Buddhism in the West. As the Gutenberg Age cedes to the Google Age, the survival of the Silk Road’s greatest treasure is testament to the endurance of the written word.
This gorgeously illustrated oversized book brings the history and cultures of the Silk Road alive -- from its beginnings to the present day -- covering more than 5000 years.
A journey along the greatest land route on earth, from the master of travel writing Colin Thubron 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 Thubron 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. 'It is hard to think of a better travel book written this century' Times 'Thubron is the pre-eminent travel writer of his generation' Sunday Telegraph
From Roman times until the Age of Exploration, the Silk Road carried goods and ideas across Central Asia between two major centers of civilization, the Mediterranean Sea and China. In The Silk Road: Explore the World’s Most Famous Trade Route, readers ages 9–12 will learn about the history, geography, culture, and people of the Silk Road region. Marco Polo was just one of many who set out on the Silk Road in search of wealth, power, or knowledge. These adventurers braved vast deserts, towering mountain peaks, warring tribes, and marauding bandits. Silk garments, wool rugs, and fine glass were the prizes for those who survived the trip. Activities using everyday materials bring the Silk Road to life. Young readers will see how ideas in math, science, religion, and art were spread by travelers along with the treasures they found. The Silk Road takes readers on an exciting, interactive adventure to a faraway place and celebrates its important role in human history and development. .
* Winner of Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Sequel * Nominated for RWA’s Golden Choice Award for Best Romance of the year The Desert Flower At seventeen, fiery Juliet Cameron fell passionately in love and married the perfect companion for the adventurous life she wanted to lead. Lord Ross Carlisle is handsome, dashing, and as eager to explore the world as she is. But social constraints and fear of an all consuming love that threatens to engulf her independent spirit send Juliet fleeing to the distant land where she was raised as a diplomat’s child. Now, a dozen years later, a gentleman’s promise sends Lord Ross on a dangerous rescue mission to Central Asia—and to a shocking reunion with his long estranged wife. Warily they join forces to cross the merciless desert to Bokhara, where Juliet’s army officer brother has been imprisoned. The fierce attraction that drew them together so many years before has never died. But if they succumb to passion, can either of them survive if they cannot heal their broken marriage? "Silk and Secrets fulfills every dream of your heart, every yearning of your soul, as a pair of memorable lovers find their way back to each other's arms . . . This remarkable novel of high adventure and unquenchable love is a stunning reading experience, one you will remember and cherish forever." —Romantic Times "Sheer brilliance. Silk and Secrets' historical vibrancy and vitality bring to mind Dorothy Dunnett with a dash of Indiana Jones... Ms. Putney's descriptions convey both the romanticism and the harshness of the dunes and their nomads. Traveling with a desert caravan, Ross and Juliet talk and fight and laugh, sometimes as the only way out of a tight spot, and I loved every word of it. I also loved Ross, a Lawrence of Arabia (oh heavens, Peter O'Toole) sans homosexuality crossed with Francis Crawford sans self-destructiveness - a true gentleman, and super, super hot. And Juliet was such a vital, complex woman - proud but not blinkered, hot-tempered but not TSTL, and humorous to boot—that damned if I didn't wish she were a) my friend, b) running for president...." —Desert Island Keeper The Silk Trilogy: Book #1: Silk and Shadows Book #2: Silk and Secrets Book #3: Veils of Silk
Along this captivating journey, Larry Andrews encounters a strange amulet, Hindu holy men, Buddhist monks, ancient sacred books and a hidden monastery at the edge of the Gobi Desert. A series of bizarre clues ultimately leads the author to the desert where he undergoes an intense period of spiritual reconditioning, returning home a changed man-a happy man-and a man with the sacred books and diaries of his incredible adventure in Central Asia. Book jacket.
An expert on China’s global infrastructure expansion provides an urgent look at the battle to connect and control tomorrow’s networks. From the ocean floor to outer space, China’s Digital Silk Road aims to wire the world and rewrite the global order. Taking readers on a journey inside China’s surveillance state, rural America, and Africa’s megacities, Jonathan Hillman reveals what China’s expanding digital footprint looks like on the ground and explores the economic and strategic consequences of a future in which all routers lead to Beijing. If China becomes the world’s chief network operator, it could reap a commercial and strategic windfall, including many advantages currently enjoyed by the United States. It could reshape global flows of data, finance, and communications to reflect its interests. It could possess an unrivaled understanding of market movements, the deliberations of foreign competitors, and the lives of countless individuals enmeshed in its networks. However, China’s digital dominance is not yet assured. Beijing remains vulnerable in several key dimensions, the United States and its allies have an opportunity to offer better alternatives, and the rest of the world has a voice. But winning the battle for tomorrow’s networks will require the United States to innovate and take greater risks in emerging markets. Networks create large winners, and this is a contest America cannot afford to lose.
This is the incredible true story as told in Wired, Vogue, Forbes, and USA Today.In development to be a major Motion Picture!In 2011, the Silk Road website was set up on the Dark Web in the hopes of becoming the Amazon.com of the drug world. A charismatic young entrepreneur known only as the Dread Pirate Roberts quickly built a client base of more than a million customers and created a billion-dollar company that supplied drugs, weapons, false IDs and anonymous bank accounts to the underworld.This is the true story of how a disabled Mormon grandfather found himself in the middle of it all. Arrested by a crooked DEA agent, framed for stealing from drug lords, he quickly found himself trapped in a dark web of lies, theft, and murder.