The Silk Road: A New History with Documents

The Silk Road is iconic in world history; but what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting. In The Silk Road: A New History with Documents, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionized our understanding of these trade routes. Hansen explores eight sites along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism.

Designed for use in the classroom and based on the award-winning trade edition (OUP, 2012), The Silk Road: A New History with Documents offers a selection of excerpted primary sources in each chapter. The wide-ranging sources include memoirs of medieval Chinese monks and modern explorers, letters written by women, descriptions of towns, legal contracts, religious hymns, and many others. A new final chapter provides coverage of the Silk Road during the period of Mongol rule.

Author: Valerie Hansen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 06/14/2016
Pages: 496
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.85lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9780190208929
ISBN10: 0190208929
BISAC Categories:
- History | Asia | China
- History | Middle East | General
- History | Ancient | General

About the Author

Valerie Hansen is Professor of History at Yale University. She is the author of several books, including The Open Empire, Second Edition (2015), and, with Kenneth R. Curtis, Voyages in World History, Third Edition (2016).