The Silk Road: Art and History

A celebration of the cultural heritage of the countries along the Silk Road, this book is a detailed, lavishly illustrated exploration of the the ancient trade route between Europe and Asia, more specifically between Rome and the old Chinese capital of Xian. The author provides a comprehensive history of the Silk Road and examines many of the most celebrated works of art discovered in each country, and sets them in their historical and geographical context. Drawing freely on anecdotes, and literary and historical sources, he examines the lives of the merchants and other travellers who used this route and the way in which their activities related to the works of art that were created. Vignettes and poems from the heyday of the great trading route punctuate a lively and colourful book, which also benefits from Antonia Tozer’s exceptionally evocative photographs of landscapes and people.

Chapters range from Precursors and The Manufacture of Silk, through China and Central Asia to Rediscovery in the Twentieth Century and Lost Art of the Silk Road. There is a glossary of foreign and technical terms, as well as chronologies for each period of history for the main sections of the Silk Road, and a bibliography and index.