Stretching from the ancient Chinese capital of Xian across the expanses of Central Asia to Rome, the Silk Road was, for 2,000 years, a vibrant network of arteries that carried the lifeblood of nations across the world. Along a multitude of routes everything was exchanged: exotic goods, art, knowledge, religion, philosophy, disease and war. From its earliest beginnings in the days of Alexander the Great and the Han Dynasty, the Silk Road expanded and evolved, reaching its peak under the Tang and Byzantine empires and gradually crumbling with the decline of the Mongol empire. In this beautifully illustrated book, which covers the Central Asian section of the Silk Road–from Lake Issy Kul through Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, the Kyzyl Kum Desert, Khiva and Merv to Herat, Kabul and Iran–Tucker uses traveler’s anecdotes and a wealth of literary and historical sources to celebrate the cultural heritage of the countries that lie along the Silk Road and illuminate the lives of those who once traveled through the very heart of the world

丝绸之路从中国古都西安延伸到中亚的广袤土地上，在两千年的时间里，它是一个充满活力的动脉网络，承载着世界各国的命脉。沿着众多的路线，一切都在交换：异国货物、艺术、知识、宗教、哲学、疾病和战争。从最早的亚历山大大帝和汉代开始，丝绸之路不断扩展和发展，在唐朝和拜占庭帝国时期达到顶峰，随着蒙古帝国的衰落而逐渐崩溃。在这本图文并茂的书中，涵盖了丝绸之路的中亚部分--从伊西库尔湖经塔什干、撒马尔罕、布哈拉、克孜勒库姆沙漠、希瓦和梅尔夫到赫拉特、喀布尔和伊朗--塔克利用旅行者的轶事和大量的文学和历史资料来颂扬丝绸之路沿线国家的文化遗产，并照亮那些曾经穿越世界中心的人们的生活。