The classic account of one of the last great caravan adventures through inner Mongolia. "Mr. Lattimore knows how to convey to the reader the emotion and thoughts that animated him on his great journey." -The New York Times
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The classic account of one of the last great caravan adventures through inner Mongolia. "Mr. Lattimore knows how to convey to the reader the emotion and thoughts that animated him on his great journey." -The New York Times
Read Less
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan to cart. $10.48, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Kodansha.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan to cart. $10.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Kodansha.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan to cart. $10.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Kodansha.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan to cart. $10.48, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Kodansha.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan (Hardcover) (Chinese to cart. $12.98, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published by Shanghai Brilliant Publishing House.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan (Kodansha Globe) to cart. $14.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Kodansha USA.
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Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan (Hardcover) (Chinese to cart. $28.18, new condition, Sold by Red's Corner rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tucker, GA, UNITED STATES.
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All orders ship by next business day! This is a new hardcover book. For USED books, we cannot guarantee supplemental materials such as CDs, DVDs, access codes and other materials. We are a small company and very thankful for your business!
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan to cart. $52.00, very good condition, Sold by Resource for Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ivoryton, CT, UNITED STATES, published 1929 by Little, Brown, and Company.
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Very Good. Size: 0x0x0; 373 pp.; ill. in b/w, 8vo: Firm binding, no ownership markings, light bumping to head/tail of spine, light scuffing to cover boards and corners. Well packaged in a box, ships with tracking.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan, to cart. $52.92, fair condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1929 by Little, Brown, and Company.
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Fair. Exlibris, card pocket on second page, some pencil marking This is a damaged book. May be ex-library, water-damaged, or spine creased/broken. Acceptable, Reading copy only, with writing/markings and heavy wear. No dust jacket. Standard-sized.
Add this copy of The Desert Road to Turkestan, to cart. $82.00, good condition, Sold by Sequitur Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Boonsboro, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1929 by Little, Brown, and Company.
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Good. Bound in publisher's cloth. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Scattered pencil underlining/marginalia. Tear to Appendix page. Small closed tear at head of spine. Maps on lining papers. Ships daily.
Owen Lattimore, the successively famous Chinese and Mongolian scholar and much debated presumptive "comunist agent" of the McCartney period, wrote this book in 1927 after his incredible caravan voyage along the then unmapped "Winding Road" in Inner Mongolia of 1926. The reason for this ethnological feat was the Author's convinction that caravan days were going to disappear with the progress beeing made in China by railways and roads and as he puts it: "I wanted to feel the strange and actual life of the past which we usually accept without thought as the dead background of our present". The choice of the Winding Road instead of the more common and mapped Silk Road routes was determined by the then dangerous traveling conditions due to war going on in China. Lattimore's intention must be kept in mind while reading this exquisite work. Many of the apparent drawbacks of the book such as the excessive detail in the use of foreign toponyms, the frequent digressions into prices of wares, habits of people, legends and stories related to places are in reality a treasure of knwoledge that has been preserved for ever. However, the "winding" of Lattimore's prose and thoughts does not hinder the enjoyability of this adventure, because the Desert Road is an adventure book of the best tradition. The adventure of a smart and curious and brave young man that is completely engrossed in his dream but at the same times does not recoil from living and learning from the men he travels with. The characters such as Moses, the Villainous Camel Puller and Wa-wa, the Eldest Son of the House of Chou are etched with great care and deep understanding and even if there are no "strong episodes", the interactions among them is interesting to follow and works like the backbone of the story. But the real magic of the book is the description of the days, the atmospheres and the landscapes, the animals (camels and others), the physical excertion and the the inconveniences and the moments of joy and peace.The Black Gobi is looming in the back of the whole story with its camel skeletons and buried water wells. The book also offers many photographs shot by the Author that illustrate significant episodes and people. I think this book is an indispensable read in the approach to Inner Mongolia and its traditions and represents at the same time a specialistic and a non-specilistic historical document that will not be forgotten like many other travel books of those times.
P.S. If one is curious on the House of the False Lama (see the more recent George Crane's Beyond the House of the False Lama) in the DRTT you can find many answers. The introduction by the Author's son David Lattimore helps to contextualize the book and gives many useful information for cross-references.
