The ¿Silk Road¿ was never a single thread across Asia but an intricate web of trade routes ¿ Silk Roads ¿ which together linked the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. This guidebook is the first to cover these routes in their entirety and with it you can retrace the Golden Road to Samarkand, follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Marco Polo, and travel the length of the Great Wall of China. With detailed information on over 6,000 miles of overland routes both by road and rail, this guide includes: planning your trip ¿ information for all budgets whether you¿re an independent traveler or joining a group; practical information ¿ for travelers in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and China; where to stay, where to eat and what to see in 40 stopovers along the way; lesser-known routes; extensive history of the Silk Roads; useful phrases in Arabic, Farsi, Russian and Chinese; 50 maps.

Dominic Streatfeild-James is a writer and producer for the Discovery Channel. He has worked on other Trailblazer titles, including Silk Route by Rail, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Guide Book Awards.