Foreign Devils on the Silk Road Book Review
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road is a book written by Peter Hopkirk that accounts for the story of the intrepid men who made long-range archaeological raids and incurred the underlying wrath of the Chinese. To start with, the Silk Road was an incredible trans-Asian highway that linked distant China with Imperial Rome. On this highway, traders traveled with precious goods of gold, silk, ivory, animals and plants, knowledge, and art. In this book, the author shows that one thousand years after this road was rendered useless, Sven Hedin, a Swede tourist, discovered one of its lost towns (Hopkirk, 2001). What followed is a relentless effort by Hedin to unearth the buried treasures beneath the sands of the desert. In this book, Hedin defies the local legends of vengeful devils to carry off a vast amount of sculptures, wall paintings, manuscripts, and silks.
According to Hopkirk & Case (1999), the Silk…show more content… However, with time, the trips diminished as the desert sands became persistent and buried the cities along this road. Later, after the merchants cut short their trips along this path, came the explorers who became devils. This publication is a worth book to read since it takes the readers through history that occurred many years ago. In this book, Peter Hopkirk explores how the merchants explored China by taking away the treasures they excavated from its desert sands. Besides, the author uses simple language and picture illustrations that make the book interesting to read. For the lovers of history, this book is the best since it explores the history of China. For those intending to travel to China to experience its history, this book is a good starting point as it explores the ancient history of China. Nevertheless, it can be misleading since the names of some locations
