Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Treasures of Central Asia, by Peter Hopkirk
This book was so fascinating I had a hard time putting it down. It is the story of several Europeans who excavated ancient cities in an area that was called Chinese Turkistan. They were vibrant trading centers on the old Silk Road, and then were abandoned and swallowed up by the Taklamakan desert. This part of China was so remote at that time, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, that it was almost like visiting the moon today. The conditions were brutal and dangerous but the discoveries were amazing--ancient manuscripts, silks, and art. There were ancient Buddhist monasteries where piles of old books and writings were found preserved, including some ancient Christian ones. Many of them were in languages that had been lost to history. If you are interested in archaeology and exploration and the ancient civilizations along the Silk Road, you won't want to miss this book.
