The World of the Ancient Silk Road

REVIEW BY TIM WILLIAMS This book is a collection of papers that focus on themes of human migration, communication, and cross-cultural exchange along the Silk Roads, from the 3rd millennium BC to the early 2nd millennium AD. The volume is organised in four parts, with the very loose themes of prehistory, pastoral nomads and agricultural societies, silk trade and caravan cities, and empires and religions. This collection of papers consists of 32 contributions in all. They are mostly very specific, with a few broader discussion papers, such as Daniel Waugh’s excellent review of ‘Virtual Silk Roads: objects, exhibitions, and learners', which explores how visual and material evidence o