"Our world was made on and by the Silk Roads. For millennia it was here that East and West encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas and cultures, the birth of the world's great religions, the appetites for foreign goods that drove economies and the growth of nations. From the first cities in Mesopotamia to the growth of Greece and Rome to the depredations by the Mongols and the Black Death to the Great Game...

Travels through five countries along the Silk Road between China and Turkey, featuring the cultures, modern traditions, and histories of the regions.

Introduces readers to three great historical figures: The monk Xuanzang, the conqueror Genghis Khan, and the merchant Marco Polo, who, years apart, each traveled the Silk Road, along different routes and for different motives. Photographs and art depicting the ancient routes and peoples bring to life the stories of these three explorers who changed history. Maps, sidebars and an afterword that updates the story of the Silk Road are also featured.

Describes the history, geography, culture, and people of the legendary trade route that extended between China and the Mediterranean Sea.

"The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past. Many foods we consume today--from almonds and apples to tea and rice--have histories can be traced along the tracks of the Silk Road out of prehistoric Central Asia to European kitchens and American tables. Organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century B.C., but the exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient trading...

An acclaimed bioarchaeologist traces the path of an ancient piece of jewelry found in a Viking grave in England back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, explaining that the Vikings' route may have been far more varied than previously known.

"Having reached his destination in Ankara, Smith is not only reunited with his old friend, but also Talas, the woman he briefly stayed with on his journey. An agreement was made, and now Smith must travel back to Amir and Karluk with his new companions and newly acquired camera. However, the roads back are perilous as war approaches..."--Amazon.com.

"An expert on China's global infrastructure expansion provides an urgent look at the battle to connect and control tomorrow's networks"--