Book review

While out at garage sales today, I picked up a book titled "Life Along the Silk Road", by Susan Whitfield. It's a collection of...hm. Historical fiction biographical sketches? It doesn't read like a novel, definitely, even within each separate story.

It's a collection of tales of the lives of several people of different walks of life who lived during the time of the "Silk Road", and whose lives were shaped by the culture, trade, and conflict of the area. It is researched and based on primary source information, as much as possible. Real people are included where possible, but the gaps in their lives are filled in with information based on other resources - the story of the trader, for instance, may include details and information based on what is known of traders along that route at the time.

It is fascinating. I have long thought that we get too little Eastern history in school (and even what we do get is often separated into its own course, leaving it out-of-context with the more familiar Western history -- but the lack of context and such in history courses is a topic I could go on and on and on about, so I'll just leave it at that for now), and miss out on so much because of it (I loved my Eastern Civ course in college). Now, of course, I feel the need to get out my timelines and see where those stories fall -- hee!

Anyhow, if you happen to see the book, flip through it. The individual stories are short and easily readable, and make the cultural information so much more accessible.