{"title":"Kathleen Hopkirk","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the captivating narratives of Kathleen Hopkirk. Explore tales of espionage, courage, and resilience set against the backdrop of historical events. Perfect for readers seeking thrilling and informative reads.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"traveller-s-companion-to-central-asia-book-kathleen-hopkirk-9780719553219","title":"A Traveller's Companion to Central Asia","description":"As Central Asia rapidly opens up to the West there is a need for something more than a guidebook. Kathleen Hopkirk, who first visited the area nearly 30 years ago, has drawn on the accounts and observations of travellers over the centuries to bring to life its turbulent past and set the scene for its no less turbulent present. Stretching 2000 miles eastwards from the Caspian Sea to China, Central Asia has witnessed some of the most extraordinary events in history. Overrun by waves of barbarians, including Huns, Turks and the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan, it was also the meeting point of a host of cultures and faiths. Criss-crossed by the camel trails we know as the Silk Road, its caravans carried ideas as well as exotic merchandise between China, India and the eastern Mediterranean. Its fabled cities of Merv, Samarkand and Bokhara became synonymous with wealth, splendour and mystery, as their remoteness made them inaccessible to all but the most adventurous. By the 19th century, when its deserts and mountains became the chessboard for the Great Game, Central Asia was rarely out of the headlines. But then, when the Bolsheviks and the Chinese Communists took it over, it became a closed region, one of the least-known on earth. Only now does it once again find itself in the spotlight, following the collapse of Soviet rule and the creation of five entirely new countries. \"A Traveller's Companion to Central Asia\", arranged alphabetically for the user's convenience, is a concise handbook to the region which also offers an epic account of this region.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49545705488657,"sku":"GOR001602392","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49559114121489,"sku":"GOR001928887","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50468205887761,"sku":"CIN0719553210G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50491879489809,"sku":"GOR007394360","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50689612153105,"sku":"CIN0719553210VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53502045061393,"sku":"GOR010391484","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0719553210.gif?v=1750881470"},{"product_id":"central-asia-book-kathleen-hopkirk-9781906011840","title":"Central Asia","description":"Between these covers, the millennia of mercantile and cultural exchange along the Silk Route are celebrated by travellers and writers from Marco Polo to Sven Hedin, from William of Rubrick to Ella Maillart. Kathleen Hopkirk has spent a lifetime researching this vital heartland, traversed by five, inhospitable deserts but united by ancient chains of trading oases: from the Buddhist Empire of Kushan, to the scholarly Islamic centre at Bukhara, from the military conquerors massing in both directions to the saintly missionaries and monks who moved between its centres of learning. This mysterious homeland of the Tartars, Turks, Mongols, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Tajiks, Scythians and Sarmatians, gave the world terrifying conquerors of the stature of Gengiz Khan and Tamberlane. Later it became the focus of the Great Game, a rivalry for influence in the area between the empires of Russia and Britain played out by spies, ambassadors, agents and travel writers for 150 years, itself a continuation of the old cultural rivalry between Persia and China for the soul of this vast region.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49713936990481,"sku":"GOR009644490","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49735333413137,"sku":"NGR9781906011840","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50971960148241,"sku":"GOR012129344","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51731022774545,"sku":"GOR012960501","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1906011842.jpg?v=1751060743"},{"product_id":"traveller-s-companion-to-central-asia-book-kathleen-hopkirk-9780719550164","title":"A Traveller's Companion to Central Asia","description":"This traveller's companion is both an alphabetical handbook to the region and an epic tale of violence and treachery, courage, faith and vision.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50771595493649,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50771595854097,"sku":"GOR003106017","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0719550165.jpg?v=1750944861"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-kathleen-hopkirk.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}