
Peter Hopkirk’s “ Foreign Devils on the Silk Road” details the tales & adventures of western explorers who uncovered & claimed the lost treasures of Central Asia. The Silk road, which linked imperial Rome & distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on earth. Along it traveled precious cargoes of silk, gold & ivory as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of Buddhist art & learning. In time it began to decline. The traffic slowed, the merchants left & 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 & guarded by demons. In the early years of the twentieth century foreign explorers began to investigate these legends, & very soon an international race began for the art treasures of the Silk Road. Huge wall paintings, sculptures & priceless manuscripts were carried away, literally by the tone, & are today scattered through the museums of a dozen countries. This book tells the story of the handful of intrepid men who, at great personal risk, led these long-range archeological raids, incurring the undying wrath of the Chinese. Peter Hopkirk is a veteran journalist & is widely recognized as an authority on the complex history of Central Asia. This is one of several books he has written on the region.