The Silk Road : Ten Thousand Miles Through Central Asia (New ed)

Linking East and West, Asia with Europe, the Silk Road was once the most important trading route in the world.

A conduit for the exchange of prized silks, spices and jewels as well as philosophies, cultures and religions, the Silk Road was a catalyst for the rise and fall of some of the greatest civilisations in history, from the empires of Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan.

It was through its great caravans that the western world discovered paper, gunpowder and the compass and through them that Buddhism spread to China.

Its very name has become iconic, synonymous with exoticism, adventure and mystery.

The second in the trilogy - 'the War', 'the Road' and 'the Lake' - this is the account of Sven Hedin's 10,000-mile journey along the ancient Silk Road, as he carried out a mission for the Chinese to create a road linking China with the rogue province of Xinjiang.

Forbidden by the government to conduct archaeological investigations, Hedin ignored the restriction and was imprisoned for it but the research that he brought back with him has formed the basis of much of the West's knowledge of the Silk Road and its history. Today, as waves of tourists tread its abandoned routes and explore its ruined caravanserais, they follow in the footsteps of this original Silk Road explorer.