Foreign devils on the Silk Road : the search for the lost treasures of Central Asia /Peter Hopkirk

By: Peter HopkirkContributor(s): Peter HopkirkMaterial type: TextTextPublisher number: Brijwasi Book Distributors | ;H-87,Lalita park ,Laxmi Nagar,Delhi-110092Publication details: London : John Murray , 2006Description: x, 252 pages ; 20 cmISBN: 9780719564482Subject(s): HistoryGenre/Form: AntiquitiesDDC classification: 931 HOP
Contents:
The rise and fall of the Silk Road -- Lost cities of the Taklamakan -- The great manuscript race -- Sven Hedin: the pathfinder -- Aurel Stein: treasure-seeker extraordinary -- Stein strikes it rich -- The unmasking of a forger -- The race begins in earnest -- Von Le Coq spins a coin -- 'The finest paintings in Turkestan ... ' -- Secrets of a Chinese rubbish dump -- Tun-huang: the hidden library -- Pelliot: the gentle art of making enemies -- Spies along the Silk Road -- Langdon Warner sttempts the unthinkable -- The Chinese slam the door.
Summary: The Silk Road, which linked imperial Rome and distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on Earth. Along it travelled precious cargoesn ... as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of Buddhist art and learning. In time it began to decline ... finally its towns vanished beneath the desert sands to be forgotten for a thousand years. But legends grew up of lost cities filled with treasures and guarded by demons. In the early years of the [twentieth] century foreign explorers began to investigate these legends, and very soon an international race began for the art treasures of the Silk Road. Huge wall paintings, sculptures and priceless manuscripts were carried away, literally by the ton, and are today scattered through the museums of a dozen countries. Peter Hopkirk tells the story of these intrepid men who, at great personal risk, led these long-range archaeological raids, incurring the undying wrath of the Chinese
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The rise and fall of the Silk Road --
Lost cities of the Taklamakan --
The great manuscript race --
Sven Hedin: the pathfinder --
Aurel Stein: treasure-seeker extraordinary --
Stein strikes it rich --
The unmasking of a forger --
The race begins in earnest --
Von Le Coq spins a coin --
'The finest paintings in Turkestan ... ' --
Secrets of a Chinese rubbish dump --
Tun-huang: the hidden library --
Pelliot: the gentle art of making enemies --
Spies along the Silk Road --
Langdon Warner sttempts the unthinkable --
The Chinese slam the door.

The Silk Road, which linked imperial Rome and distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on Earth. Along it travelled precious cargoesn ... as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of Buddhist art and learning. In time it began to decline ... finally its towns vanished beneath the desert sands to be forgotten for a thousand years. But legends grew up of lost cities filled with treasures and guarded by demons. In the early years of the [twentieth] century foreign explorers began to investigate these legends, and very soon an international race began for the art treasures of the Silk Road. Huge wall paintings, sculptures and priceless manuscripts were carried away, literally by the ton, and are today scattered through the museums of a dozen countries. Peter Hopkirk tells the story of these intrepid men who, at great personal risk, led these long-range archaeological raids, incurring the undying wrath of the Chinese

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