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Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search For The Lost Treasure Of Central Asia |
As suggested by the title this is both a series of exciting archaeological adventures into the most inhospitable and remote areas of the world in order to rescue priceless artefacts AND a shocking tale of cultural destruction carried out by privateers during a period of weak central rule. The stripped and gutted temples of the Taklaman and Gobi deserts, a fascinating melting pot of cultural influences, are still a source of anger in the region.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 106 Autumn 2022) |
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Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia |
The young, fervent communist Russia, struggling with both internal and external resistance, looked east for a fertile source of converts and expansion. Whilst Mongolia became the second country to embrace communism the prize would have been India, but claims from competing Muslim, Chinese, White Russian and local warlords ensured years of horrific bloodshed, deprivation and devastation. Sadly attitudes to the evident cheapness of human life and the willingness to destroy reverberate down to the present.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 105 Summer 2022) |
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The Great Game |
As the Great Game - the vicissitudes of power in Central Asia since Napoleon - has alas been revived in an even more aggressive mode in our day - this book makes enthralling reading and cannot be bettered as background information and guide to more understanding of the present situation. Memoirs written 150 years ago have a familiar ring. A must for Kipling and Secret Service fans.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 12 January 2002) |
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