Download or read book Winds of the Steppe written by Bernard Ollivier and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-11-17 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bernard Ollivier pushes onward in his attempt to become the first person to walk the entire length of the Great Silk Road. “A gripping account. More than just a travel story—this is a quest for the Other.”—Alexis Liebaert, L’Événement Picking up where Walking to Samarkand left off, Winds of the Steppe continues the astonishing tale of journalist Bernard Ollivier’s 7,200-mile walk from Turkey to China along the Silk Road, the longest and most mythical trade route of all time. Taking readers from the snows of the Pamir Mountains to the backstreets of Kashgar—a Central Asian city that could be the setting for One Thousand and One Nights—to the Tian Shan Mountains to the endless Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Bernard Ollivier continues his epic foot journey along the Great Silk Road hoping to make his way to Han China and reach, at long last, the legendary city of Xi’an. After traveling through a region dotted with former Buddhist shrines, Ollivier finds himself craving the warm welcome of Islamic lands, where, regardless of their culture or nationality, travelers are often treated as esteemed guests. Beyond the occasional vestige of the old Silk Road, Ollivier comes face to face with sites of religious significance, China’s Great Wall, and of course thousands of everyday people along the way. As Ollivier tries to make sense of his journey and find connections between these people’s daily lives and the so-called “modern” world, he does so with a sense of humility that transforms his personal journey into a universal quest.
Download or read book Walking to Samarkand written by Bernard Ollivier and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed journalist Bernard Ollivier continues his epic journey across Persia and Central Asia as he walks the length of the Great Silk Road. Walking to Samarkand is journalist Bernard Ollivier’s stunning account of the second leg of his 7,200-mile walk from Istanbul, Turkey, to Xi’an, China, along the Silk Road--the longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time. Picking up where Out of Istanbul left off, Ollivier heads out of the Middle East and into Central Asia, grappling not only with his own will to continue but with new, unforeseen dangers. After crossing the final mountain passes of Turkish Kurdistan, Ollivier sets foot in Iran, keen on locating vestiges of the silk trade as he passes through Persia’s modern cities and traditional villages, including Tabriz, Tehran, Nishapur, and the holy city of Mashhad. Beyond urban areas lie deserts: first Iran’s Great Salt Desert, then Turkmenistan’s forbidding Karakum, whose relentless sun, snakes, and scorpions pose continuous challenges to Ollivier’s goal of reaching Uzbekistan. Setting his own fears aside, he travels on, wonderstruck at every turn, borne by a childhood dream: to see for himself the golden domes and turquoise skies of Samarkand, one of Central Asia’s most ancient cities. But what Ollivier enjoys most are the people along the way: Askar, the hospitable gardener; the pilgrims of Mashhad; and his knights in shining armor, Mehdi and Monir. For, despite setting out alone, he comes to find that walking itself—through a kind of alchemy—surrounds him with friends and fosters fellowship. From the authoritarian mullahs of revolutionary Iran to the warm welcome of everyday Iranians—custodians of age-old, cordial Persian culture; from the stark realities of former Soviet republics to the region’s legendary bazaars—veritable feasts for the senses—readers discover, through the eyes of a veteran journalist, the rich history and contemporary culture of these amazing lands.
Download or read book Out of Istanbul written by Bernard Ollivier and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed journalist Bernard Ollivier begins his epic journey on foot across the Silk Road. Upon retirement at the age of sixty-two, and grieving his deceased wife, renowned journalist Bernard Ollivier felt a sense of profound emptiness: What do I do now? While some see retirement as a chance to cash in their chips and settle into a comfy armchair, Ollivier still longed for more. Searching for inspiration, he strapped on his gear, donned his hat, and headed out the front door to hike the Way of St. James, a 1400-mile journey from Paris to Compostela, Spain. At the end of that road, with more questions than answers, he decided to spend the next few years hiking another of history’s great routes: the Silk Road. Out of Istanbul is Ollivier’s stunning account of the first part of that 7,200-mile journey. The longest and perhaps most mythical trade route of all time, the Silk Road is in fact a network of routes across Europe and Asia, some going back to prehistoric times. During the Middle Ages, the transcribed travelogue of one Silk Road explorer, Marco Polo, helped spread the fame of the Orient throughout Europe. Heading east out of Istanbul, Ollivier takes readers step by step across Anatolia and Kurdistan, bound for Tehran. Along the way, we meet a colorful array of real-life characters: Selim, the philosophical woodsman; old Behçet, elated to practice English after years of self-study; Krishna, manager of the Lora Pansiyon in Polonez, a village of Polish immigrants; the hospitable Kurdish women of Dogutepe, and many more. We accompany Ollivier as he explores bazaars, mosques, and caravansaries—true vestiges of the Silk Road itself—and through these encounters and experiences, gains insight into the complex political and social issues facing modern-day Turkey. Ollivier’s journey, far from bragging about some tremendous achievement, humbly takes the reader on a colossal adventure of human proportions, one in which walking itself, through a kind of alchemy, fosters friendships and fellowship.
Download or read book Desert Winds written by Carol S. Breed and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Baltic Sea Region in Transition written by Marcus Reckermann and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Plough that Broke the Steppes written by David Moon and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. From the early-eighteenth century, settlers moved to the semi-arid but fertile grasslands from wetter, forested regions in central and northern Russia and Ukraine, and from central Europe. By the late-nineteenth century, they had turned the steppes into the bread basket of the Russian Empire and parts of Europe. But there was another side to this story. The steppe region was hit by recurring droughts, winds from the east whipped up dust storms, the fertile black earth suffered severe erosion, crops failed, and in the worst years there was famine. David Moon analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth. He also analyses how scientists tried to understand environmental change, including climate change. Farmers, and the scientists who advised them, tried different ways to deal with the recurring droughts: planting trees, irrigation, and cultivating the soil in ways that helped retain scarce moisture. More sustainable, however, were techniques of cultivation to retain scarce moisture in the soil. Among the pioneers were Mennonite settlers. Such approaches aimed to work with the environment, rather than trying to change it by planting trees or supplying more water artificially. The story is similar to the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains of the USA, which share a similar environment and environmental history. David Moon places the environmental story of the steppes in the wider context of the environmental history of European colonialism around the globe.
Download or read book OTS written by United States. Department of Commerce. Office of Technical Services and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Thunder on the Steppe written by Timothy J. Kloberdanz and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Folklore, social life and customs of ethnic Germans who returned to former settlements near the Lower Volga River in Russia following the Second World War.
Download or read book China and the Middle East written by Muhamad Olimat and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This manuscript examines relations between China and the Middle East in historical context. It highlights some of the most important events that characterize the ties between China and the Middle East, and examines their relationship in key areas that include energy, trade, arms sales, culture and politics. The centre of China's relations with Israel is arms sales and advanced technology, while the core of Sino-Saudi relations is oil. Iran and China are tied with deep historical, civilizational, cultural and political relations, but China's current interests in Iran centre on oil. Relations between China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) centre on trade. The UAE serve as a primary hub for Chinese business corporations not only in the Gulf or the wider Middle East, but also in Africa and the world. China's relations with Algeria have been based on political co-ordination since the early days of the Algerian War of Independence and the early days of the People's Republic of China. China provided Algeria with political, diplomatic and military support to accomplish its national liberation from France. Since then, their partnership has developed. Finally, the book develops a tridimensional approach in which China's ties with Middle Eastern countries are viewed as an outcome of interaction between three actors in each situation. The book reaches the conclusion that China's national interests in the Middle East are only increasing, and it is anticipated that Sino-Middle Eastern relations and strategic partnerships will be enhanced in the near future, provided that China is not perceived as undermining the Arab Spring. Key Features Offers an in-depth analysis of Chinese-Middle Eastern relations Assists students and scholars in understanding the uniqueness of the Chinese model of engagement in the Middle East Explains why most Middle Easterners prefer China's engagement to Western engagement Explores the future of Sino-Middle Eastern relations
Download or read book Natural Disasters Volume II written by Vladimir M. Kotlyakov and published by EOLSS Publications. This book was released on 2010-08-19 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural Disasters theme in two volumes is a component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Natural hazards arise unexpectedly, without any discernible regularity, and leave an indelible trace in nature, sometimes for many decades to come. At present they are appreciably complicated by anthropogenic influence, lending them an adverse and often catastrophic character. The susceptibility of a society to the impact of natural disasters is conditioned by the natural environment, and the vulnerability of the society to such phenomena is historically associated with the type of the nature management. Natural disasters can be of geological and hydrometeorological origin; the specific group of such phenomena is presented by natural disasters in mountains. This volume deals with the natural disaster and covers several topics, with a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world such as: Geological Catastrophes; Climate-Related Hazards; Mountain Disasters and Snow Avalanches, which are then expanded into multiple subtopics, each as a chapter. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.
Download or read book The Plough that Broke the Steppes written by David Moon and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. David Moon focuses on the settlement of migrants from central Russia, Ukraine, and central Europe, and analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth.
Download or read book Harnessing the Trade Winds written by Blanche Rocha D'Souza and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harnessing the Trade Winds is the outcome of a generation of research undertaken in Nairobi, Mombassa and Zanzibar in East Africa, and Mumbai and Goa in India. Of her work the author says: "In all my research I found that Arab and particularly European, sources of information downplayed the importance of Indian trade in the Indian Ocean which goes back at least three thousand years BC. [The book] attempts to rekindle in the Indian diaspora a justifiable pride in the achievements of its forebears in East Africa, and indeed other parts of the world. In East Africa they promoted the development of agriculture and industry and the globalization of trade stemming from their trading activities." "Blanche D'Souza's book is a most direct statement on 'brown man's' transcripts over thousands of years trade, labour and migrations for settlements against a pervading backdrop of Arab, British and Portugese rivalries in the Indian Ocean. In this wake Harnessing the Trade Winds adds to plural historical perspectives, in that the text upholds the value of diversity that shapes the identities and self-knowledge of the peoples of Asia and Africa. It challenges those who hold the political reigns and direct policy, on education as well as race relations." - Sultan Somjee, Former head of Ethnography at the National Museums of Kenya, founder of the Community Peace Museums Programme and Foundation, and the Asian African Heritage Trust in Kenya.
Download or read book The Silk Road A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Network of Trade Routes Established During the Han Dynasty of China and How It Conn written by Captivating History and published by Captivating History. This book was released on 2020-04-04 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Silk Road, which has been understood as a generalized route of trade between the East and the West, is different from European, North African, and Near Eastern trade routes because until recently, it has been understood as solely being a land route; in fact, it was believed to be the longest overland trade route in human history.
Download or read book Grassland Habitats written by and published by In the Hands of a Child. This book was released on with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wind as a Geomorphic Agent in Cold Climates written by Matti Seppälä and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-06-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 2004 monograph describing wind-generated polar landforms, both modern-day and those preserved in the geological record.
Download or read book Forest Steppe and Tundra written by Maud D. Haviland and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-25 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, first published in 1926, provides an account of the interaction between animals and four types of plant environment.
Download or read book forest steppe tundra studies in animal evironment written by Maud D. Haviland and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
