Valerie Hansen's new history of the Silk Road is the first truly historical narrative of the subject in the regional context of oasis Central Asia. The book integrates the history of explorations of Central Asia into histories of the regional oasis states. Numerous documents in various ancient languages along with archaeological finds in the oasis of Central Asia have fascinated scholars. Though linguists have deciphered the texts found in various sites, the whole picture of the lives of the peoples coming and living in the region has remained elusive. This new history of the Silk Road displays the linguistic complexity of the region with the background of religious propagations, trade, immigrations, and invasions. Analyses of specific texts bring life to the splendid objects excavated from graves of the long-deceased people. Meanwhile, the author explains controversial issues arising from the explorations and researches in the field with such clarity that the reader would not need to take sides while appreciating the stories deciphered from the documents. Therefore, this book should be a must read for instructors of world history, and a good assignment to students of Chinese history.

Hansen organizes the book into five regional oasis states of Central Asia in addition to Xi'an, the east terminus of Central Asia trade networks, following a rough chronology of the rises and falls of the centers: the kingdom of Kroraina (chapter 1), Kucha (chapter 2), Turfan (chapter 3), Samarkand and Sogdiana (chapter 4), historic Chang'an (chapter 5), the Dunhuang Caves (chapter 6), and Khotan (chapter 7). The titles of the chapters reference characteristics of the regions under study, and thus offer good guidance on the specific role of the region in the Silk Road history. The chapter title for the Dunhuang Caves, “The Time Capsule of Silk Road History,” for instance, directs the reader to the gallery of Buddhist art. The maps for every chapter and the plates and figures will help readers follow the historical evolvement in the times of the Silk Road and the events of exploration and research in the region.

Because the field of Silk Road studies started in the early twentieth century as one of the agendas of imperial powers, and because scholars from many countries have been involved, the field has been infested with controversies, conflicts of opinions and even hostilities among scholars and the public. Avoiding the politically charged subject of the Great Game, the author discusses the ethical issues of Aurel Stein as an archaeologist commissioned by European imperial authorities on the Silk Road in the early half of the twentieth century (pp. 175–77). When tracing Stein's adventures, the author extracts the information from the writings of Stein and his contemporary archaeologists to connect the dots of the findings into a cohesive narrative of the discoveries of the documents and artifacts from the oases.

Two sections stand out for additional comment. In chapter 2, “Gateway to the Languages of the Silk Road,” the author again skillfully explains the controversy surrounding the debate about Tocharian language. While giving a full account of the discoveries of two archaic languages, Kucharean and Agnean in the Kucha and Argi regions, she points out that calling these languages “Tocharian” is a misnomer. Tocharian was a well-known geographical name in north Afghanistan, to which the Yuezhi people migrated and established themselves in the second century BCE, according to Chinese accounts. The Yuezhi people never left in the Kucha area any literary trace of the language they used (pp. 70–72). While I totally agree with the author on this obvious but neglected fact, I hesitate to doubt the accuracy of traditional Chinese accounts of the Yuezhi, as the author does (p. 71).

“Homeland of the Sogdians, the Silk Road Traders: Samarkand and Sogdiana” (chapter 4) covers research on the region comprehensively. The author painstakingly collected archaeological works done by former Soviet and Russian scholars. My only reservation is that grouping this part of Central Asia into Iranian culture is a bit arbitrary. Ancient Sogdiana in present Uzbekistan, similar to the oasis states in the eastern part of Central Asia, was a conglomeration of many oasis states entangled with nomadic groups. Sogdian traders dealt with not only Chinese and eastern Central Asians, but also nomads to the north and Indians to the south, and the dynasties in Iran and even the Byzantines to the west. Chinese literature also distinguishes the Sogdians from the Persians. Sogdiana therefore might deserve to be treated as a major independent player in the Silk Road drama in its own right. Another regret is that the role of nomads from the Central Asian steppe is almost absent in the narrative of oasis developments. Notwithstanding, my reservations are just minor points. This is indeed a well-written and highly scholarly book.