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The Silk Road was anetwork of caravan trails linking Chinaand Indiawith the Mediterranean world in ancient and medieval times. Chinese historianXinru Liu’s account is refreshing both for its view from the east end of theRoad and its brevity. She tells a complicated story in succinct form of an agewhen Afghanistan was largelyBuddhist, when remnants of Alexander the Great’s empire flourished in Central Asia and a diverse set of beliefs traveled thecommercial routes along with silk and spices. The Silk Road region remains strategically important today, not only as ahotbed of fundamentalist Islam, but also for oil, opium and a plethora ofunsettled and dangerous political problems.
