To be traveling the Silk Road, writes Colin Thubron, is to be traveling the history of the world: tracing the passage not just of trade and armies, but of ideas, religions and inventions. Thubron covers 7,000 miles in 8 months as he passes through China, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, taking in the most sterile desert on earth and the strife-torn mountain valleys of today’s conflicts. Prior to his career as a travel writer, Thubron made documentaries which were shown on BBC and worldwide television.