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| Author: Stanley Stewart |
Vivid, hilarious, and compelling,
this book takes is a thrilling tale of adventure, a comic
masterpiece, and an evocative portrait of a medieval
land marooned in the modern world. Eight and a half centuries
ago, under Genghis Khan, the Mongols burst forth from
Central Asia in a series of spectacular conquests that
took them from the Danube to the Yellow Sea. Their empire
was seen as the final triumph of the nomadic "barbarians." In
this book Stewart sets off on a pilgrimage across the
old empire, from Istanbul to the distant homeland of
the Mongol hordes. The heart of his odyssey is a thousand-mile
ride, traveling by horse, through trackless land.
On a journey full of bizarre characters and unexpected
encounters, he crosses the desert and mountains of
central Asia to arrive at the windswept grasslands
of the steppes, the birthplace of Genghis Khan.
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From Publishers Weekly
Stewart, a British journalist and travel writer (Old Serpent Nile), takes
a 1,000-mile horseback journey across Mongolia, the homeland of Genghis
Khan. The author has a gift for merging history and anecdote and succeeds
in engaging the reader throughout this informed narrative. Although their
culture is dying out, nomadic Mongolians still live in gers (wood-framed
felt tents) that can be quickly dismantled and transported across the
Asian steppes as they travel continuously on horseback in search of pasture
for their sheep, goats and yaks. Stewart vividly describes the days he
spent on horseback with his guides, riding through desolate but breathtaking
scenery. During his trip, he enjoyed remarkable hospitality from the nomads,
who gave him a place to sleep and fed him mutton and airag (fermented
mare's milk). His unusual adventures include a wedding, an encounter with
a shaman and a visit to a clan meeting. Stewart blames the brutal introduction
of communism into the country for Mongolia's troubles and, unfortunately,
demonstrates his contempt for Russia by caricaturing many of the Russians
he encountered. But this is the only discordant note in an otherwise excellent
travelogue, which received the U.K.'s 2001 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
© 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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$14.95 (softcover)
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