The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York

Amazon.com

Claudia Roden, author of The Book of Jewish Food, has done more than simply compile a cookbook of Jewish recipes--she has produced a history of the Jewish diaspora, told through its cuisine. The book's 800 recipes reflect many cultures and regions of the world, from the Jewish quarter of Cairo where Roden spent her childhood to the kitchens of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Both Ashkenazi and Sepharidic cooking are well represented here: hallah bread, bagels, blintzes, and kugels give way to tabbouleh, falafel, and succulent lamb with prunes, which are, in turn, succeeded by such fare as Ftut (Yemeni wedding soup) and Kahk (savory bracelets).

Interwoven throughout the text are Roden's charming asides--the history of certain foods, definitions (Kaimak, for instance, is the cream that rises to the top when buffalo milk is simmered), and ways of preparing everything from an eggplant to a quince. In addition, Roden tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about Jewish dietary laws, what the ancient Hebrews ate, and the various holidays and festivals on the Jewish calendar. Detailed sections on Jewish history are beautifully illustrated with archival photographs of families, towns, and, of course, food. The Book of Jewish Food is one that any serious cook--Jewish and non-Jewish alike--would gladly have (and use often) in the kitchen.

Book Description

A monumental work--the story of the Jewish people told through the story of Jewish cooking--The Book of Jewish Food traces the development of both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish communities and their cuisine over the centuries. The 800 magnificent recipes, many never before documented, represent treasures garnered bu Roden through nearly 15 years of traveling around the world. 50 photos & illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A bittersweet classic.......2007-09-15

It's evident from some of the reviews below (some of which betray a bizarre provincialism among the writers) that this book engenders some controversy in some sectors of the Jewish community. Well, I am not Jewish, so to me, such debates are a tempest in a teapot, especially as this is one of my most favorite cookbooks in my entire collection.

A good ethnic cookbook tells its culture's story alongside the food, as food is and always has been a critical part of any culture. What makes this book's perspective unique is how much of its story is told in the past tense -- the horrors of the Holocaust resulted in a vast resettling of much of the Jewish population of the world, and a consolidation in places such as the United States, Israel, the UK, and Canada. Roden's book, therefore, becomes something of a record of a wide variety of Jewish cuisines, a sort of time capsule containing many pasts to be sent to a single future. Yes, the Sephardic/Mizrachi section is quite a lot larger than the Ashkenazic section, but the shtetl culture was only the largest microcosm of a vast diversity of Jewish cultures that mostly reflected the countries they developed in (the titles of the recipes, in a multitude of languages including English, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic and French, bear as much witness to this as any other aspect of the book). One suspects that 800 recipes isn't nearly enough to do a decent job of covering the ground Roden set out to cover, but what's there is such a huge wealth of data as it is that it seems pointless at best to fault her for it.

Claudia Roden has always been one of my favorite cookbook authors, primarily on the strength of this book. She writes excellent historical sidebars, and also seems to be very fond of the idea (Leo Rosten was another practitioner) of including jokes in a reference work. Her closeness to the background (she is of Egyptian Jewish extraction) gives it a personal touch as well. Her James Beard Award was well deserved, and this surely stands out as her best work (it certainly is my favorite out of the three of hers that I have). It isn't the last word in Jewish food by a long shot, but it's an unbeatable opening gambit.

Great reading, but turn to another book for actual cooking, especially if you keep kosher.......2007-07-20

The depth of Claudia Roden's book is impressive, and she covers many important Sephardic recipes. I enjoy reading the historical sections, and if I want to know how to cook a specific food, I can often (but not always) find it in this book. When I actually want to cook, I turn to Gil Marks and Pamela Grau Tweena.

The recipes in this book are presented with indifference to the reader's ability to procure the ingredients and to make the recipes in a kosher way. For instance, Fesenjan, a Persian pomegranate-poultry dish, uses duck breasts, which are too expensive for an everyday kosher meal in a middle class home, and often impossible to buy without getting an entire frozen duck. I've never seen fesenjan made kosher with anything but chicken. While Roden does have a tiny note at the bottom that you can substitute chicken, she doesn't say that chicken thighs should be substituted in order to get the same kind of depth of flavor that (I imagine) duck breasts give --- chicken breasts would dry out and not carmelize and add flavor to the sauce properly.

In a couple of recipes, she uses seemingly raw liver (which is not kosher until it is grilled in a particular way). In other recipes, her directions for making liver kosher, she instructs to put the livers on aluminum foil which makes all the blood emitted from the liver go right back into the liver, so anyone following her recipe would end up with a non-kosher liver, and a non-kosher oven, frying pan, knife, and food processor (yes, she has people put liver into the food processor, although almost no one who keeps kosher would have a meat food processor). I'm relatively casual about kashrut, but liver is serious business.

She is also inconsistently specific: while she quantifies some ingredients in both volume and weight, other ingredients are left vague, such as the Tabeet recipe which calls for 1 large stewing hen, without specified weight.

As comprehensive as the book is, I've noticed that some common recipes are missing. She only has one Yemenite soup which seems to be pretty skimpy on the seasonings, and many vegetable stews aren't there, a glaring omission given that the book seems to be attempting to be so comprehensive.

Good History Book.......2007-05-13

Not really the traditional cooking book although you can make a promenade through history and traditions of Jewish cookery. The Sepharadim topic is less privileged but you can have a go in the kitchen with this book. I won't comment about other branches of Jewish gastronomy. The fact is, its a book to be read and be on the kitchen's bookshelves. Not only for the ones interested in Jewish gastronomy; very interesting to the ones that have at least one foot in the Iberian Peninsula some generations ago, you maybe will recall some smells of Granny's food served at the table. Very pretty presentation.

A pleasure to read for an eater of Jewish food .......2006-12-12

I do not cook. I cannot judge the quality of recipes. But reading through this book was a great pleasure.It was a historical tour of the Jewish world featuring the special foods related to each distinct place and culture.

The Book of Jewish Food - an odyssay from Samarkand to New York.......2006-08-18

Even if the recipes weren't superb (which they are!) reading the history of a people through its food is totally enjoyable. I've read and reread it learning something new each time.

Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror

Average customer rating:

Buyer Beware
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
A Diplomat Tells the Truth for His Country

Murder in Samarkand: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror
Craig Murray
Manufacturer: Mainstream Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Tamerlane's Children: Dispatches from Contemporary Uzbekistan
Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?
Central Asia's Second Chance
Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game And the Race for Empire in Central Asia

ASIN: 1845962214
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

Craig Murray was the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan until he was removed from his post in October 2004 after exposing appalling human rights abuses by the US-funded regime of President Islam Karimov. In this candid and at times shocking memoir, he lays bare the dark and dirty underside of the War on Terror.

In Uzbekistan, the land of Alexander the Great and Tamburlaine, lurks one of the most hideous tyrannies on earth – one founded on cotton slavery and brutal torture. As neighbouring 'liberated’ Afghanistan produces record levels of heroin, the Uzbek rulers cash in on massive trafficking. They are even involved in trafficking their own women to prostitution in the West. But this did not prevent Karimov being viewed as a key US ally in the War on Terror.

When Craig Murray arrived in Uzbekistan, he was a young Ambassador with a brilliant career and a taste for whisky and women. But after hearing accounts of dissident prisoners being boiled to death and innocent people being raped and murdered by agents of the state, he started to question both his role and that of his country in so-called 'democratising’ states.

When Murray decided to go public with his shocking findings, Washington and 10 Downing Street reached the conclusion that he had to go. But Uzbekistan had changed the high-living diplomat and there was no way he was going to go quietly.

Customer Reviews:

Buyer Beware.......2006-12-31

I note that the favorable reviews of this book, both on Amazon and on the book cover, seem to come from people already convinced that Murray is a victim and a hero and that Uzbekistan (and the United States) are evil.

I don't know whether what Murray alleges can be taken fully or partially at face value or should be rejected outright. I do think he has a point of view that should be heard. A few points for the debate, however:

1. This is a poorly, probably hastily written and edited book which is sloppy and contains internal inconsistencies.
In spite of the bad writing it is highly entertaining (and disturbing) to read.
2. This is clearly written to justify and promote the author--nothing wrong with that, especially if he his telling the truth. But it's worth keeping in mind that there are multiple points of view here
3. He is clearly very disingenuous about his motivation and the evolution of his thinking, even if the rest of his allegations are true: a close reading reveals a bias against both the Karimov regime and the US before he ever reached the country.
4. He has a deep-seated anti-Americanism that goes far beyond a normal European hatred of President Bush or doubt about the Iraq war--in fact, he criticizes the British government for standing firm with the USA after 9/11--on the grounds that the US did not enter WWII until it was attacked itself. This doesn't mean what he says is untrue--but it does suggest he had at least a strong point of view before the events in the book unfold.
5. At various times in the book he accuses the same US officials of a) being totally complicit with the Uzbek regime and b) being totally naive in believing that the regime was reforming. One of these allegations might be true. Both are highly unlikely.
6. While the allegations of the horrors of the Karimov regime ring true, his explanation of the campaign against him starts to wander into the real of highly implausible conspiracy theory: a phone call from the White House to London asking his removal sounds possible. A campaign by (who?) to set him up for the variety of allegations...a poisoning? If we were really all that bad, wouldn't it have just been easier to have him shot?
7. For a diplomat, Murray shows a surprisingly simplistic view of diplomatic policy and priorities. The air base the U.S. was using in Uzbekistan--which he argued was so vital that we were "backing" the regime--was subsequently abandoned, after Murray's time, with little or no consequence on the war on terror.
8. While his descriptions of his highly immoral personal behavior might serve to lend a further air of truth...the fact remains that he is a self-confessed serial adulterer and very heavy drinker. A man with a family who had a time consuming job but chose to spend his free time in strip clubs...none of this means he's lying...but it does, at least in my mind, make it plausible that he may not have totally come clean. He deceived his wife for decades, but he wouldn't deceive us?

Look, this is a fascinating story--I would just counsel that it be read with a healthy amount of skepticism given the source. And that the author not be awarded hero status just because of the enemies he picked...

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.......2006-07-13

Allegations of visas in exchange for sex against a British ambassador to some ex-Soviet republic; subsequently cleared on all counts but forced out nonetheless. Like many in Britain that was all that really remained in my memory of the lurid headlines and media reports of a year or so ago - and life carried on.

Anyone for whom that rings bells owes it to themselves to read this book, as does anyone wondering about the true nature of the West's so called 'War on Terror'. It is deeply disturbing on two levels:

1. It documents the appalling nature of the 20 year Uzbek Regime of Islam Karimov. A regime which spans the pre and post-to-date Soviet era. Not in some dry academic fashion either but through the exploits of the Ambassador who, at considerable risk to his own safety, intervened in numerous cases of offical brutality. The reader is left in no doubt that the Karimov regime of Uzbekistan is on a par with the very worst of the worlds self-serving and brutal dictatorships. It was during this period that controversy about US/UK willingness to 'make use of evidence obtained under torture' and US so called 'rendition flights' became public. The ambassador reported that any such 'evidence' from Uzbekistan was useless since the regime was simply in the business of forcing 'dissidents to confirm what the regime wanted the West to hear. His reports were unwelcome.

2. To have the true nature of one the then principal strategic allies in the West's 'War on Terror' exposed to scrutiny was judged by the Foreign Office top brass to be (euphemistically) 'counterproductive'. In spite of him having overwhelming support from human rights organisations and the Ex-Pat British business community, not to mention achieving more genuine influence with the Karimov regime than any of his predecessors, he had to be stopped. The methods employed to stop him were the inspiration of those headlines which hid a myriad of other kafkaesque stratagems . They bring shame on both the British government and the upper echelons of a politicised civil service which even now is doing all it can to prevent both the sale of this book and publication of documents which prove its authenticity.

A Diplomat Tells the Truth for His Country.......2006-07-11

Few of us have done battle with a murderous dictator. "Murder in Samarkand" tells how a British Ambassador did so and survived, only to be stabbed in the back by his own Prime Minister. Tony Blair ignored diplomatic advice if it complicated his relations with George W. Bush. How the British Foreign Office tried but failed to dismiss Ambassador Murray for invented disciplinary offences is an individual tale of injustice. However, the gripping core of this story is of a young and studious Ambassador driven to take absurd risks in remote parts of Uzbekistan as he builds up a dossier of incontrovertible brutalities by his host government. Those who try to obstruct him find this experienced and slightly overweight scholar is no patsy. He disputes the lies of petty bureaucrats. He storms into a corrupt procurator's office and dismisses him as a criminal - a risky way to use an Ambassador's "full and plenipotentiary" powers. But it works. The bully is exposed as a coward in front of those he has bullied. There is even a snow-shrouded chase with President Karimov's goons in pursuit - no wonder film rights are under discussion.

The shocking part of this story - narrated with skill and honesty - is that, at heart, much of the British Foreign Office valued Ambassador Murray's reporting from his Embassy in Tashkent. Dealing with human rights abuses is never easy. Murray knew his way around the policy heavyweights at home well enough to make sure that a controversial speech critical of Uzbekistan had support from the human rights desks. But when the White House complained to Tony Blair and he passed this down the line, spines crumpled - from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw down. This book shows how diplomats can bring shame or honor to their country. There is a simple lesson for Tony Blair (and George Bush) to learn. If you ask diplomats who are trained to report truthfully, to tell lies, the lasting problems will come from the ones who obey you, not the ones who stick to their professional calling.

The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1)

Average customer rating:

Bartimaeus made the book
Elgee at www.freewebs.com/hlgstrider
Somewhat derivative and cliche but fun
Harry Potter meets 1984 meets Wizard of Earthsea
Wonderful Book!

The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1)
Jonathan Stroud
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Adventure & Thrillers | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 078681859X

Amazon.com

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine. In British author Jonathan Stroud's excellent novel, the first of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, the story switches back and forth from Bartimaeus's first-person point of view to third-person narrative about Nathaniel. Here's the best part: Bartimaeus is absolutely hilarious, with a wit that snaps, crackles, and pops. His dryly sarcastic, irreverent asides spill out into copious footnotes that no one in his or her right mind would skip over. A sophisticated, suspenseful, brilliantly crafted, dead-funny book that will leave readers anxious for more. (Ages 11 to adult) --Karin Snelson

Book Description

Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him. Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine. In British author Jonathan Stroud's excellent novel, the first of The Bartimaeus Trilogy, the story switches back and forth from Bartimaeus's first-person point of view to third-person narrative about Nathaniel. Here's the best part: Bartimaeus is absolutely hilarious, with a wit that snaps, crackles, and pops. His dryly sarcastic, irreverent asides spill out into copious footnotes that no one in his or her right mind would skip over. A sophisticated, suspenseful, brilliantly crafted, dead-funny book that will leave readers anxious for more. (Ages 11 to adult) --Karin Snelson

Customer Reviews:

Bartimaeus made the book.......2007-08-03

I almost rated this a 3-star. Bartimaeus is brilliantly refreshing. He is Professor Snape meets Jack Sparrow. It's well worth the read just for him alone. What bogs this book down is the highly irritating magician Nathanial. He is only 12, yet is seemingly as arrogant, intelligent, and cruel as an adult. I think the author forgot his characters age entirely until much towards the end. While Bartimaeus is the brilliant main character of the book, Nathanial is also a main character - and a highly annoying one, at that. He is Harry Potter, only much worse. I've not read the next two books, but already I'm very sick of him. I will most likely read them simply in pursuit of the demon Bartimaeus. Without him, this book would have been worthless.

The plot moves slow and a large chunk is spent reading a 12-year-old rant and whine. Only the demon saves the day, and what's more, he goes completely unrecognized or un-thanked for his duty.

I do highly recommend this book for the character Stroud has created, but be prepared to take the good with the bad.

Elgee at www.freewebs.com/hlgstrider .......2007-07-13

My husband bought me this book for my birthday, but I quickly began to doubt his good intentions as he snatched it up before I did and devoured it. Then he proceeded to constantly interupt my reading of another book by gaffawing at the constant commentary of Bartimaeus himself and everytime I asked him what was so funny he told me it wouldn't make sense unless I read the book and kept reading. He devoured book one in an evening, continued on through book two and three the next day, and I am sure if Matt were writing this rating, he would give it a five. For me, it was a three.
I'm a character driven reader and character was what this book lacked . . . not character in the sense that the people weren't fully formed or the book didn't hold interest. In that sense the book is full of character. The wise cracking Djinni in the title role can't keep his mouth shut for all the character, and his constant interjections (in the form of foot notes) are hilarious, and in many places more interesting than the text itself. No, it is missing character in two other important senses: A. a protagonist I could like and root for; B. a moral substance or cause for which we (the readers) can root for. Honestly, in this story of a neglected young boy who calls up a magical Djinni to avenge himself on a senior magician who humiliated him, I didn't find either.
The two leads are Nathaniel, the neglected boy, and Bartimaeus, the summoned Djinni. Nathaniel, for most of the book, is young, hurt, and pitiable but never motivated by what I consider a good cause. For the first half of the book he is merely out for revenge and glory, to prove that he can weild powers beyond his age and to ruin one who called this into doubt. When the second half of the book begins and it is revealed that more is at stake than just Nathaniel's pride, we are hardpressed to care because the author makes it clear that the government entities Nathaniel and Bartimaeus rush to protect really aren't worth protecting. It would be rather like learning that Hitler and Stalin were going to go at it and being told you could stop Hitler and let Stalin lead a long and happy life by risking your rear end in many uncomfortable ways. Sure, no one wants Hitler again, so you might do it, but it sure as heck wouldn't be for the love of Stalin. Bartimaeus on the other hand is more interesting, but he doesn't want to be there, is compelled to do things against his will, and really only gives a darn because Nathaniel has threatened him with life imprisonment in a tabacco tin (and life is long for an immortal) if he doesn't behave. For him, victory isn't victory either.
So what are we fighting for? Who knows. None of the characters seem to anyway.
So I kept reading just so I could absorb the footnotes which were hilarious, not really because I gave a darn what was going to happen to the prime minister or the evil villian or even much to good old Nathaniel.
But the action is fierce and the tone is hilarious. I just wish I knew what I was reading for other than that.

Somewhat derivative and cliche but fun.......2007-07-06

In Stroud's alternative London, magicians rule the country as members of parliament and they have their own invisible army of imps, marids, afrits and djinns. As in every magician society, there are apprentices and masters. One of these apprentices is named Nathaniel. Nathaniel always studied hard and did his best. Nathaniels life changes though when an arrogant, mean-hearted magician named Simon Lovelace humiliates him publicly by hanging him upside down while poking him in front of everyone and his own master fails to defend him.

This humiliating experience enrages Nathaniel and sets him on an irreversible course to summon a djinni named Bartimaeus to help him exact his revenge. Nathaniel commands the djinni to steal the arrogant magician's most prized possession. Unfortunately, lots of things can go wrong with magic, and they certainly did for Nathaniel, his master and Bartimaeus.

Somewhat derivative and cliche, still a fun read. My eldest (15) enjoyed it, but I wouldn't let younger children read it due to some of the mature themes.

Harry Potter meets 1984 meets Wizard of Earthsea.......2007-06-23

London, sometime near now. Magic exists, and magicians control the government. To do this, they must summon "demons", creatures from higher dimensions, to do their bidding. They maintain power through fear and intimidation of both their human subjects and their more powerful slaves.

Enter Nathaniel, eleven-year old wizard, and apprentice to a junior government magician. He's been humiliated by Simon Lovelace, another, more powerful magician, and wants revenge. He summons Bartimaeus, a sly, wisecracking djinni, to steal a powerful artifact, the Amulet of Samarkand, from Lovelace's residence. Bartimaeus does this and at Nathaniel's bidding hides it in his master's office.

In the process, Bartimaeus learns Nathaniel's birth name. And then the fun really begins...

I was looking for a good fantasy series to tide me over until the release of the Harry Potter finale when I happened upon "The Amulet of Samarkand". Since then I have read it twice, and listened to the brilliant audiobook reading of it. This is one of the best fantasies ever written, and will always have a place in my collection.

It's as though the world of Harry Potter were taken over by the Slytherins, only much more evil. The magicians in this series are almost all conniving, sneaky, backstabbing, selfish gits. It's hard to like any of them. But it is fun to watch their machinations, especially through the eyes of the eternally jaded, sarcastic Bartimaeus.

Harry Potter, with a little 1984 and Wizard of Earthsea thrown in. Read this series. You won't be disappointed.

Wonderful Book!.......2007-06-20

This is one of the best books I've read in this category. I LOVED this book. I can't wait to finish the other two in the series.

Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)

Average customer rating:

The best guide for Uzbekistan
The Golden Road to Samarkand
Best Guide Yet!
Precise and Modern
Beautiful, Detailed

Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
Calum MacLeod , Bradley Mayhew , and Calum Macleod
Manufacturer: Odyssey Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Tourist Destinations & Museums | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Central Asia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
Kyrgyz Republic (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
Central Asia Phrasebook: Languages Of The Silk Road (Lonely Planet Phrasebooks)
Tamerlane's Children: Dispatches from Contemporary Uzbekistan
Uzbek Dictionary & Phrasebook: Uzbek-English English-Uzbek (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)

ASIN: 9622177433

Book Description

From the blue-tiled splendor of Tamerlane's Samarkand to the holy city of Bukhara, which boasts a mosque for each day of the year, and beyond to the desert-girdled khanate of Khiva, Uzbekistan lays claim to a breathtaking architectural legacy. Bound by sand and snow, fed by meltwater from the Roof of the World, these fertile oases attracted the greatest travelers and conquerors in history along the fragile threads of the Silk Road. This groundbreaking guide, now extensively revised and updated, focuses on the wealth of sites and colorful legends at the heart of Central Asia, plus the best of the rest—excursions covering the major attractions of neighboring republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Still the only guide to cover this former Soviet republic, offering informative insights into the history, religion and culture of Uzbekistan
Up-to-date practical information for the traveler, covering visas, customs and specialist travel agencies
Hints for business visitors
Environmental issues
Special topics include the disappearance of the Aral Sea, and the life and death of Tamerlane the Great
Updated information on transport, food and accommodation for each city and site
Useful maps, together with detailed plans of principal sites
Suggested excursions to neighboring republics, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
92 color photographs
22 maps

Customer Reviews:

The best guide for Uzbekistan.......2007-09-15

I lived in Uzbekistan for two years, and at the time this was the only reliable guide to sightseeing in the country. Well researched and full of historical anecdotes. Re-reading the book only makes me want to return to this very complex nation.

The Golden Road to Samarkand.......2006-07-20

This book is not only the definitive and most comprehensive but it is also the most uncannily accurate and comprehensive guide to Uzbekistan in 2006. Throughout our travels from Tashkent to Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand and back to Tashkent it was our bible, not only helping us to negotiate the culture but directed us to the 'must do' places to see or visit. In fact it made eveything about the country utterley comprehensible - from food and culture to history and politics. It came home very badly thumbed. Brilliant!

Best Guide Yet!.......2002-02-02

I live and work in the heart of Central Asia. Of all the guide books available, this one is the best yet. Not only does it have beautiful color photos and maps, the history articles are excellent. Beware: when you open up this book on the streets of Samarkand, Bukhara, or Khiva, people will gather around to view it! It's so good, I am ordering a full class room set for my students to use in the Uzbekistan studies part of our curriculum at Tashkent International School.

Precise and Modern.......2001-09-17

This is not a mere travel guidance of Uzbekistan, but one of the best scientific articles full of joyful information spiced with humanistic reaction of the authors toward the legacy of Silk Road and Soviet Russian history.
Names of people, telephone number, street name, as well as social and political information are all correct. Evaluation of the hotel accommodation including smart managers and busters is illustrated interestingly. If the authors would be aware of the fact that the inattentive attitude of the people in some area shows the existence of military secrets, this book might have shown a different flavor.
Because I have given this book to my friend in Uzbekistan, I would like to order you another copy.

Beautiful, Detailed.......2001-07-26

Although at times this guidebook serves as an outlet for the authors' intellectual and personal preoccupation with the region, thereby losing its practicality for the reader, overall it is both helpful and beautifully written, brimming with sensory and cultural detail... The authors do not just tell you to go to a bazaar in Samarkand; they take you there, weaving you through narrow streets and by beer vendors, letting you smell the shashlik, nudging you to watch out for pickpockets. Because the authors do not miss a beat, this guide is at times almost a virtual tour of the country. Because the region is unstable and consequently dynamic, this book is now somewhat outdated in certain areas. The two need to update the edition.

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics

Average customer rating:

A great book--unless you need the reference section
A Scholarly Resource
The Kunstkammer of the Tang Dynasty
Brilliant Work by the Best T'ang Scholar Yet
Golden Peach of Literary and historic value

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics
Edward H. Schafer
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Industrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

China | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang
Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century
Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road (Conservation and Cultural Heritage Series)
The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia
Life along the Silk Road

ASIN: 0520054628

Book Description

In the seventh century the kingdom of Samarkand sent formal gifts of fancy yellow peaches, large as goose eggs and with a color like gold, to the Chinese court at Ch'ang-an. What kind of fruit these golden peaches really were cannot now be guessed, but they have the glamour of mystery, and they symbolize all the exotic things longed for, and unknown things hoped for, by the people of the T'ang empire.
This book examines the exotics imported into China during the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), and depicts their influence on Chinese life. Into the land during the three centuries of T'ang came the natives of almost every nation of Asia, all bringing exotic wares either as gifts or as goods to be sold. Ivory, rare woods, drugs, diamonds, magicians, dancing girls--the author covers all classes of unusual imports, their places of origin, their lore, their effort on costume, dwellings, diet, and on painting, sculpture, music, and poetry.
This book is not a statistical record of commercial imports and medieval trade, but rather a "humanistic essay, however material its subject matter."

Customer Reviews:

A great book--unless you need the reference section.......2007-07-25

When this book arrived yesturday I couldn't wait to dive into it. I'm doing a research project on medieval aviculture in China and had heard from a friend this book might have key information I was looking for. Sure enough, the information is golden. But the bibliography is NOT, so much that I have to downgrade from 5 stars to 3 stars. All over the notes section are abbreviations that you cannot readily find explained. Rather than just copying and pasting the names of the works, you get TTT and the like. hello, but what is that???

Bibliographies and notes have to be useful so that researchers like me can consult the same sources used in the work. This work is beautiful and reads well, but is terrible to check out. How can I check sources if there's no way to figure out what the sources used really are? How do I determine if there were rose breasted cockatoos in China if I cannot see the original for myself? Maybe this author doesn't know a cockatoo from a cockapoo! It's why I'm expected to check the bibliography and read the originals. So read the book but don't expect to get great research out of it.

Oh and one more thing: he doesn't use hanyu pinyin in this book. I don't know what romanization system he's using, but heck that I can figure out who, what, or where when it comes to Chinese language words and names! Again, this is important for a researcher!

Would it hurt to write "Beijing" instead of "Peking?"

A Scholarly Resource.......2007-04-18

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand has been very well-beloved by professional Sinologists ever since it first came out in 1963. Happily, it still remains available, 44 years later, in this paperback incarnation. The book features an obsessivly complete listing, with judicious commentary, of nearly every trade product that came into Tang China by sea or land. Equally helpful, are the end notes which reference each such product to the Chinese sources that mention it.

However, general readers will want to know that this is a very detailed reference book that is mostly of interest to professionals. Don't be misled by the glowing (and deservedly so) scholarly reviews! An example:

"PATCHOULI

A Malayan mist yields the fragrant black oil which was called malabathron or phyllon Indikon, "Indian leaf," in the classical West. Its Sanskrit name is tamala-pattra, but we know it by a name derived from Tamil, paccilai, "green leaf." In Chinese, patchouli was called "bean-leaf aromatic," from its appearance..."

If the idea of reading 300 pages like this turns you on, hey, go for it :-)

The Kunstkammer of the Tang Dynasty.......2006-09-24

I came by this book because of its tantalizing title: The Golden Peaches of Samarkand. Who can resist such a juicy exotic invitation? I couldn't, so I plunged into this intriguing essay on Tang exotics and I must say I emerged enriched.
Edward Schafer (1913-1991) was truly a great Chinese scholar because in an university scenario in which much had already been said on the Tang period and on the scientific and cultural life of Chine during the Early Middle Ages (that by the way for the Chinese represent what for Europe was the Renaissance if a similar comparison in proper) by major scholars such as Needham, he managed to create and original, interesting and nowadays indispensable reference book for that historical period. In a plethora of texts that all give a different view of the same topics endlessly repeating the known historical facts, this "microhistory" essay tangentially describes Tang civilization touching and exploring the lives and desires of rich men in another age.

The Tang Dynasty (618-907) ruled during a period in which China probably was the most advanced civilization of the world and as in all rich societies the search for the superfluous became a necessity. The development of commerce by land and see, the safety of the Silk Road to the West and the political necessity or at time the disinterested pleasure of foreign kings in sending gifts and tokens of gratitude to the Tang emperors all contributed to the afflux to Chang'an (the Tang capital of the times) of all the strangest, rarest and most expensive luxury goods. This stimulated the emperors' and the peoples curiosity giving way to more requests, descriptions in poetry, amazing tales, representations in art and downright falsifications of these exotic artefacts.

Kunstkammers have always been the expression of the culture and richness (remember Rudolph the II in Prague) and have represented a further stimulus to civilization. Reading this book we are amazed by the quantity and quality of foreign goods known by the Chinese. Schafer, with a beautiful prose, often interrupted by his own or A. Waverly's translation (translator of The Monkey) of Chinese poems by major Tang artists, leads us by categories to a deep knowledge of the period's reality and imagination. A apparently sterile catalogue of men, domestic and wild animals, birds, furs and feathers, plants, woods, foods, aromatics (spices), drugs, textiles, pigments, minerals, jewels, metals, secular and sacred objects and books in reality opens up like with a magical key an infinity of little rooms full of "mirabilia", each linked to stories, poems, sages and monks, pharmacists and alchemists, emperors and their wives and court men.

Other reviewers have suggested not to read the book cover to cover, but to skim through it following your curiosity. Actually I went through the book cover to cover, reading all the notes that represent more than one fifth of the text and I did not find it particularly heavy. Instead I was stimulated all along to consult other books for the illustrations, which unfortunately are missing for the major part. I received great help from the beautiful "Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting" by Yang Xin and others, and I also from the old book on "China, a History in Art" by Bradley Smith and Wan-go Wen. For the historical reference I used J.A.G. Robert's the "A Concise History of China" that helps to understand the economical and political situation.

Naturally, this book would be best read with a solid preparation in Chinese history but I think it is enjoyable even without it. Surely it awakes curiosity for further study of that magnificent historical period.

A golden nugget in Chinese historiography.

Brilliant Work by the Best T'ang Scholar Yet.......2005-08-02

This work is brilliant. That said, don't pick this up expecting to read cover to cover. View it more as a thematically-organized encyclopedia of T'ang exotics and you'll enjoy the experience much more. A must-read for any student of the T'ang period.

Golden Peach of Literary and historic value.......2003-02-27

... I haven't read any book like this for a long long time. The flowing texture of writing, the unique choice of organization, the depth of the author's knowledge in T'ang empire and its relation with city-states in Serindia as well as other peripheral states, the grasp of Chinese classical literary texts, of this book, clearly set a high standard that's hard to surpass.

This is not a chronicle of events between 7 and 10th century. There is no clear time axis to the theme. Yet it reveals to us a vivid, alternative facade of T'ang empire. It is not an overstatement to say, for me, it is rather shocking to find out that so many things that are considered quintessentially Chinese are actually product of people of many origins. For example, in Chapter II Men | Musicians and Dancers, the most celebrated Chinese classic "Rainbow Chemise, Feathered Dress" was actually a rendition of Serindian song "Brahman". (This song is now lost. Once rediscovered by a lyricst of Sung era, 2-3 centuries later. Lost again later on). This once again strengthen my view of Sinic culture as a fruition of multi-cultural interation.

I do wish author had put in the book a timetable of major political events. He had only one for dynasties timetable, and one succession table for T'ang Emporers. For example, when he repeatedly referred to the conquest by T'ang (Emporor Tai Chung) of Kogoryo, if he has a table for political events we wouldn't have to confer a history book to find it out what year that's and how that's related to other major events (such as Rebellion of Rokhsan).

Except this tiny blemish, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history as well as cultures.

To wrap up this petite review, I would like to put down a few footnotes to the book, for other intelligent readers:

1. The Grand Canal (referred to by the Author as "The River of Transport", a literal translation) was built in the reign of Emporer Young, Sui Dynasty which preceded T'ang.

This one thousands odd miles long acquaduct contribute greatly to the nation's unity, prosperity. Perhaps, for the first time, the economy of the south and the north are truely united.

2. In the book, Author translated Chinese old names for Rome as "the Great Chin". This is correct only in modern times if one is to interpret the word "Da Chin"(Rome) literally. According to some scholar, Da Chin came from the ancient word "Dasina" which means "the one from the west". The other proper name for Rome is "Fu Lin" which derived from "FRome", a phonetic variant of "Rome".

Enjoy the book

Samarkand (Interlink World Fiction)
Average customer rating:

Invoking a deep respect for Iran, Islam,democracy and Justice

A parable for our times

Historical fiction about Persian history and literature - outstanding

wonderfully written stroy about the east

Wow

Samarkand (Interlink World Fiction)
Amin Maalouf
Manufacturer: Interlink Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Leo Africanus

Crusades Through Arab Eyes

The Gardens of Light (Interlink World Fiction)

Balthasar's Odyssey: A Novel

The Book of Saladin: A Novel

ASIN: 1566562937

Customer Reviews:

Invoking a deep respect for Iran, Islam,democracy and Justice.......2007-08-04

This is easily Maaloufs best work. Totally different from all other writers, Maalouf never polarises. He writes with fine balance and invokes a deep respect for every culture and creed he writes of. No one , having read this, will finish it without having a deep understanding and respect for Iran and its people, its brutal history , its identity ,which it has had very little chance in creating due to constant invasions-Turks to Mongols- or tutelege-Britain and Tsarist Russia.
Using the verses of Omar Kayyams Samarkand Manuscript and the turn of the century constitutional and democratic revolts and its failure due to British and Russian interference (what would we give for the democratic Iranian state today-free of religious and political tyranny?!) Maalouf weaves a wonderful tale of -appropriately-Arabian Nights proportions and educates the reader on all the historical upheavals desires and missed opportunities of the region. The book divides into two main parts; 11th century Persia and the life of Kayyam, and the late 19th and early 20th century Persia; a nation trying to establish itself in the world.
A deep lesson lies here, of the importance of democracy freedom and justice to all people, and how fragile it is against vested interests.
This is a truly great novel. A wonderfully unifying novel that lifts the prejudices and fears between the east and west, and misconceptions of Iran and islamic cultures.
A masterpiece in humanitarian understanding.

A parable for our times.......2006-09-01

Other reviewers have highlighted the charm of the book, with its evocation of Khayyam, the Rubiyyat and the fabled cities of the Silk Route. I would like to point out that it holds a frightening parallel to our present times. The book was published in 1988, so Maalouf could have had no idea how closely his book would mirror the early part of the twenty first century.

The book deals partly with the confict between the hidden leader of a violent sect and powerful empire. The second part of the book deals with the citizens of a country (ironically, today's Iran) striving for democracy and freedom from the oppressive rule of theocrats, but opposed by two great world powers of the time (Britain and Russia!) who wish to maintain the status quo for their economic benefit.

The book is written with great charm and makes the reader feel (s)he is there. Like a previous reviewer, I do not know enough to separate fact from fiction, but at the end of the book, one wishes with all one's heart that there IS such a book, written in Omar Khayyam's own hand, and that it is NOT at the bottom of the Atlantic.

An amazing and uplifting book.

Historical fiction about Persian history and literature - outstanding.......2006-05-29

This is a translation of a novel written in French by the Lebanese author Amin Maalouf. This novel is, in fact, two loosely linked stories tied together by the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. For those who are unaware of what this is, the Rubaiyat are a series of quatrains (four line poems) written in the 11th century in Persia. They are poems about life, love, women, and destiny which I would say they are comparable in some sense to the Odes of Horace (for those more familiar with Roman literature). These quatrains were supposedly lost for several centuries, rediscovered in the 19th century, and ultimately became enormously popular both in Persia (Iran) and the West. It is doubtful that Omar Khayyam wrote all of the collection, it is believed that some have been added in subsequent centuries. I found it useful to read some of the quatrains as I was reading this novel.

The first part of this novel is a fictionalized account of Omar Khayyam's life. I am not an expert, and I don't know how much is truly historical and how much is fictionalized, but this is both an informative and entertaining story. Khayyam befriends the head of a strict Muslim sect who founds the Assassins. This is also a tragic love story. This is primarily a political and romantic adventure describing the events surrounding Omar Khayyam as he writes his Rubaiyat.

The second part of the novel takes place in the late 19th and early 20th century as the Rubaiyat is uncoverd after centuries of hiding. A young man becomes obsessed with obtaining an original copy of the Rubaiyat, and ultimately gets swept into the Persian Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th century. As before, the story is primarily political and romantic in nature. It is interesting that the Persians (Iranians) of the early 20th century viewed the United States as the best example of democracy and freedom. I wonder if they feel the same today?

Like much of the writing of Maalouf, the main characters in the two stories don't fully participate/belong in the societies in which they are living. This gives them a unique perspective from which to evaluate the culture and the society around them. This novel is a great balance of compelling tales, tragic loves stories, and fascinating historical fiction, combined with the unique perspective that Mr. Maalouf writes with. This is a beautiful novel that I highly recommend.

wonderfully written stroy about the east.......2006-02-05

this novel introduced to me a world i already know from a new perspective,that now i understand in a better way.
this novel to me was about learning something new,researching for the real events,and most of all understanding the east in a way nobody like Maalouf can bring to life.

Wow.......2005-11-01

I was assigned this book to read for my Islamic Civilization class. At first I wasn't going to read it because, well, I felt I just didn't have the time. I had nothing to do one evening last week so I sat down and figured I'd give the book a try. Boy, am I ever glad I picked up Samarkand. It is a lively, somewhat romantic read, packed with adventure and intrigue. Two thumbs up.

Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking

Average customer rating:

Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking
Thomas Gaskell, Jr. Allen , and Michael W. Perry
Manufacturer: Inkling Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Expeditions & Discoveries | World | History | Subjects | Books

Around the World on a Bicycle (Classics of American Sport)
Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle
The Road That Has No End: How We Traded Our Ordinary Lives For a Global Bicycle Touring Adventure
The Dangerous Book for Boys

ASIN: 1587420201

Book Description

Two Washington University graduates sail to Liverpool and begin a 15,000-mile bicycle journey to Peking. The account begins in Asia Minor as the students cycle on through Persia and Turkestan, with detours to Merv, Bokhara, and Samarkand. They peddle across the vast tract of the Gobi Desert to Peking, where they were received by Li-Hung-Chang, the Prime Minister of China. "A practical finish to a theoretical education" in liberal arts.

Road to Samarkand Frederick Delius and His

Average customer rating:

Road to Samarkand Frederick Delius and His
Gloria Jahoda
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 2452284564

Average customer rating:

Samarkand
Pierre Chuvin
Manufacturer: Flammarion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Islamic | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
Monuments of Central Asia: A Guide to the Archaeology, Art and Architecture of Turkestan
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia
Damascus

ASIN: 2080111698
Release Date: 2003-11-08

Book Description

Samarkand, Boukhara, Khiva: centered around these Central Asian cities is a spectacular artistic heritage of architecture and decoration that has remained, until recently, just out of reach of globalization. The informed text and architectural detail captured in color photography, plans, and notes of Samarkand reinstates the magnificent mosques, fortresses, and residences to their proper place in the study of Islamic art. The volume pays tribute to a culture of building that withstood cycles of conquest and continued to thrive until Soviet power set in, preserving some of the most authentic building details in Asia.

From Stonehenge to Samarkand: An Anthology of Archaeological Travel Writing

Average customer rating:

A Fascinating Travel Anthology
Too Many People

From Stonehenge to Samarkand: An Anthology of Archaeological Travel Writing
Brian Fagan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Reference | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Travel | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World
The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Catalhoyuk
A Winter in Arabia
Words Words Words
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind

ASIN: 0195160916

Book Description

Ever since Roman tourists scratched graffiti on the pyramids and temples of Egypt over two thousand years ago, people have traveled far and wide seeking the great wonders of antiquity. In From Stonehenge to Samarkand, noted archaeologist and popular writer Brian Fagan offers an engaging historical account of our enduring love of ancient architecture--the irresistible impulse to visit strange lands in search of lost cities and forgotten monuments. Here is a marvelous history of archaeological tourism, with generous excerpts from the writings of the tourists themselves. Readers will find Herodotus describing the construction of Babylon; Edward Gibbon receiving inspiration for his seminal work while wandering through the ruins of the Forum in Rome; Gustave Flaubert watching the sunrise from atop the Pyramid of Cheops. We visit Easter Island with Pierre Loti, Machu Picchu with Hiram Bingham, Central Africa with David Livingstone. Fagan describes the early antiquarians, consumed with a passionate and omnivorous curiosity, pondering the mysteries of Stonehenge, but he also considers some of the less reputable figures, such as the Earl of Elgin, who sold large parts of the Parthenon to the British Museum. Finally, he discusses the changing nature of archaeological tourism, from the early romantic wanderings of the solitary figure, communing with the departed spirits of Druids or Mayans, to the cruise-ship excursions of modern times, where masses of tourists are hustled through ruins, barely aware of their surroundings. From the Holy Land to the Silk Road, the Yucatan to Angkor Wat, Fagan follows in the footsteps of the great archaeological travelers to retrieve their first written impressions in a book that will delight anyone fascinated with the landmarks of ancient civilization.

Customer Reviews:

A Fascinating Travel Anthology.......2007-07-28

Another very interesting book by Brian Fagan. "From Stonehenge to Samarkand" takes you on a world tour of archaeological sites from the perspective of the westerners who saw them first. Definitely a good read for those interested in the antiquarian period; packed with diary and travelogue excerpts! Students of anthropology/archaeology should add this one to their collection.

Too Many People.......2006-07-12

The book recounts the history of travelers to the variouis sites of civilization. It begins with 16th century Englishmen looking at and wondering about Stonehenge, other ancient sites, and the extensive Roman ruins. It progresses to travelers in Europe through the grand tour of young English aristocrats. Then it jumps to the Americas and the observations of the Spanish conquistadors, clergy, and later travelers. So on up to more recent travelers in more remote areas of the globe. It finishes decrying the crush of modern travelers that overwhelms sites such as Stonehenge, Naples, and Sounion. I can attest personally to some of this. My late wife and I first visited Stonehenge in 1974, walking freely among the megaliths. Today, the site is fenced off and there is talk of building a Disney replica a considerable distance away that the tourist would visit. We visited Greece on our own in 1989 and enjoyed uncrowded visits to Epidavros, Sounion, etc. In the 1970s we drove from Munich to Vienna on relatively uncrowded highways. Covering the same area on a river cruise in 2005, I saw a plethora of crowded highways. We always traveled independently without reservations and found delightful local accomodations along the way, a near impossibility today.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books