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Samarkand & Silk Road Cities
Suggested Reading
History
Richard N. Frye, The Heritage of Central Asia (Markus
Wiener, Princeton, 1996). Scholarly history of the early
civilizations and peoples of Central Asia from antiquity to
the Abbasid caliphate.
John Man, Ghengis Khan: Life, Death & Resurrection
(Bantam 2004, 388 pages). Retelling of the extraordinary
story of the 13th-century Mongol empire augmented with
accounts of the authors own travels and of the modern
veneration of the great Khan.
Richard N. Frye, Bukhara: The Mediaeval Achievement
(Mazda 1997). Excellent account of Bukhara under the
Persian Samanid dynasty.
Peter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road (OUP
1984). Highly readable story of early explorers in search of
the lost treasures of Central Asia.
David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford 1986, paperback 1990).
The story of the Mongols and their empire.
Beatrice Forbes Manz, The Rise & Rule of Tamerlane (CUP
1989, reprinted 1993). Scholarly history of the great conqueror.
W. M. Thackston (ed.), The Baburnama (OUP 1996). Memoirs
of Babur, the last of the Timurids, who lost the throne of
Samarkand to the Uzbeks, but went on to conquer India and
found the great Mughal dynasty.
Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game (OUP 1990). Enthralling
account of the struggle between Tsarist Russia and Victorian
Britain for control of Central Asia and of the characters who
played this Great Game.
Fitzroy MacLean, A Person from England & Other Travellers
(Jonathan Cape, 1959). Entertaining account of some of the more
extraordinary travellers in Central Asia.
Lt-Col F. M. Bailey, Mission to Tashkent (1946).
Autobiographical accont of a mission to Russian Turkestan
during the Bolshevik revolution.
Peter Hopkirk, Setting the East Ablaze (John Murray 1984)
Central Asia between the wars a tale of the spread of Marxism
M A RT I N R A N D A L L T R AV E L
This reading list...
Not obligatory. We provide it for those who would
like to do some preparatory reading before the tour or
follow up afterwards. However, we stress that no one
need feel at a disadvantage for not having done some
homework.
Not a shopping list. The appearance here of a title
does not necessarily imply that it is currently in print
and available from bookshops or libraries.
Two type sizes are used to differentiate between the
more introductory or important works and those
which are more specialised or less directly relevant.
This edition was revised in July 2010.
and attempts to counteract it, told through the adventures of
those who took part in this undeclared war.
Fitzroy MacLean, Eastern Approaches (1949, Penguin 1991).
Classic story of the authors adventures in Soviet Central Asia, in
the Western Desert and in wartime Yugoslavia.
Art & architecture
Johannes Kather & Margareta Pavaloi, Uzbekistan
(Thames & Hudson 1997). Large, beautifully illustrated
book with chapters on the history, geography, architecture
and arts of Uzbekistan.
Sheila Blair & Jonathan Bloom, The Art & Architecture
of Islam 12501800 (Yale Pelican History of Art 1994).
Detailed and beautifully illustrated with several chapters
on Central Asia.
Robert Hillenbrand, Islamic Art & Architecture (Thames
& Hudson 1999). Masterly summary of the arts of Islamic
civilization.
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Samarkand & Silk road cities: Suggested Reading

Edgar Knobloch, Beyond the Oxus: Archaeology, Art &

Architecture of Central Asia (Ernest Benn, London, 1972).
Useful guide to the civilizations of Central Asia, unfortunately
out of print.
George Michell (ed.), Architecture of the Islamic World
(Thames & Hudson 1978, reprinted 1987) Beautifully illustrated
survey of Islamic architecture in its social context with chapters
by different scholars.
Vitaly Naumkin (series editor), Bukhara (Garnet, 1993),
Samarkand (Garnet, 1992), Khiva (Garnet, 1993). Three
volumes in the series Caught in Time: Great Photographic
Archives. A superb selection of pre-Soviet photographs of the
people and monuments of these Central Asian cities held in the
St Petersburg archives.
Novels
Amin Maalouf, Samarkand (Abacus, London, 1994).A story
of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam and the manuscript of his
Rubaiyaat, set partly in Samarkand.
Islam
David Waines, An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge
University Press 1995, 280 pages), divided into three parts:
fountations, Islamic teaching g and practice; Islam in the
Modern World.
Short introductions to Islam abound including: Karen
Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (Weidenfeld & Nicholson
2000, 192 pages), Abdulkader Tayob, Islam: A Short

Travel guides
C. MacLeod & B. Mayhew, Uzbekistan: The Golden Road
to Samarkand (6th edition, 2004 Odyssey Guides). The
most detailed and informative guide to the historical and
archaeological sites of Uzbekistan.
Greg Bloom, John Noble & Bradley Mayhew, Lonely Planet
Central Asia (4th ed, 2007 Lonely Planet Publishing) is all right
but heavy on listings and slimmer on archaeological detail.
Introduction (One World Publications 1999, 160 pages); Malise
Ruthven, Islam: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University
Press 1997, illustrations and maps).
Barnaby Rogerson, The Prophet Mohammad (Little Brown
2003, 230 pages). Beautifully told, a sympathetic account of this
remarkable story. Provides ample social and historical context.

Travel writing
Kathleen Hopkirk, Central Asia: A Travellers
Companion (John Murray, 1993). Central Asia brought to
life through the accounts of travellers over the centuries.
An excellent read.
Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches (1949, Penguin
1991, 540 pages). Though less than a quarter of this
memoir a most remarkable adventure story deals the
authors time in the Soviet Union, it provides a fascinating
picture of Central Asia in the 1930s.
Frederick Burnaby, A Ride to Khiva (1876, OUP 1997).
The classic story of a young British officers unofficial
journey across the desert to forbidden Khiva in 1875.
Don Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Narrative of the Embassy of
Don Clavijo to the Court of Timur at Samarkand (London,
1859, translated from the Spanish, since reprinted). Journal of
the ambassador of Castile in the 15th century. Includes some
wonderful descriptions of Tamerlanes opulent court.
Colin Thubron, The Lost Heart of Asia (Penguin, 1994). A very
readable and amusing account of the authors journey through
the newly independent Central Asian republics.

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