Journey to Khiva: A Writers Search for Central Asia (Kodansha Globe) - Softcover

Glazebrook, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568360746 ISBN 13: 9781568360744

Publisher: Kodansha USA, 1996

Synopsis

AN EXPEDITION INTO THE HEART OF CENTRAL ASIA

Inspired by the great adventurers of the Victorian era and intrigued by the history of the Great Game-the century-long struggle between Britain and Russia to control Central Asia-Philip Glazebrook set out on his own journey to the fabled cities of Tashkent, Bokhara, Samarkand, and Khiva. Along the way he encountered remains of two other empires: the Soviet Union, whose spreading disorder was brought home by a terrifying attack in his Moscow hotel room, and the domain of Tamerlane, the thirteenth-century conqueror whose memory and monuments still dominate the imagination of the regions inhabitants Blending his own experiences with tales from earlier travelers, Glazebrook captures the color and fascination of a region where Europe and Asia have long met but never merged, a crucial crossroads from the days of the Silk Road to the present.

About this title

About the Author

PHILIP GLAZEBROOK's earlier books include Journey to Kars and Byzantine Honeymoon. He lives in Dorset, England.

From Kirkus Reviews

One of those wry, literate travel books that the British seem to specialize in--and that's as much an investigation of an unfamiliar place (here, Central Asia) as a vehicle for encountering the sublime and the ridiculous. Long fascinated with the lands and cities of Central Asia, Glazebrook, a novelist (Captain Vinegar's Commission, 1987, etc.) and travel-writer (Journey to Kars, 1984)--hoped to learn what drew so many adventurers to those sites. This was the region that in the 19th century had been the playing field for the ``Great Game,'' in which Russia and Britain competed for dominance of the Indian subcontinent. Here, anecdotes about famous players like the noble but doomed Arthur Conolly--who gave the Great Game its name--and the brutal Russian General Kaufman form the link between Glazebrook's travels and the past. Setting off in May 1990, the author travels first by train to Moscow, which he finds ``so new and unpredictable that no one knew what to expect of it from one day to the next.'' Though brutally attacked in his hotel by a knife-wielding thief, Glazebrook recovers sufficiently to fly to Tashkent, where he's met by his official guide and driver. Traveling to legendary cities (Samarkand, Bokhara, etc.), the pair pass through polluted landscapes bereft of any signs of their Islamic past--testimony to Stalin's imposition of Communist ideology and disastrous agricultural practices. The cities, built mostly of drab concrete, prove as depressing as the countryside; the trip's high point ends up being an idyllic picnic on a lake near the Oxus River. Yet despite the disappointing terrain and his fears for the region's future, Glazebrook notes that Central Asia remains for him ``a green oasis composed of many kindnesses.'' An intelligent introduction--if overburdened by footnotes--to a place only recently accessible, by a writer of disarming modesty and humor. (Maps) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Kodansha USA
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1568360746
• ISBN 13: 9781568360744
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1