The only guide to the Karakoram Highway (KKH) makes this lost link in the ancient Asian 'high road' accessible to all. This book allows you to explore the region's mind-bending mountain scenery and rich cultural diversity and brings the mystical trip from north-western China to northern Pakistan to your fingertips. Book jacket.

The Karakoram Highway was constructed by the Pakistani state in the 1970s as a major development project that furthered the national interest and solidified state control over the disputed region of northern Pakistan. Focusing on this highway, this book provides a unique analysis of the links between space, travel and history in the formation of the Pakistani nation-state. The book discusses how the highway was a symbol for an imagined national identity, and goes on to look at how it offered Pakistan a pre-Partition history and a fixed territory, by providing a historical link to the Silk Route and a contemporary geographical linkage to Central Asia. Examining the influence of the diverse travellers along the Karakoram Highway, the book shows how global flows of development, trade, labour, and tourism have remapped the Pakistani nation-state and reshaped the local. Providing a fresh perspective on the nation-state of Pakistan, this book is an important contribution to studies on South Asian History, Anthropology, Politics and Geography.

This beautifully illustrated book is intended as background reading for travelers on one of the most popular sections of the Silk Road—the Xian to Kashgar route through China, linking with the Karakorum Highway through Northern Pakistan. The ancient trade routes between Europe and the Orient, specifically between Rome and the old Chinese capital of Xian, endured for almost two thousand years. Along with trade goods came new ideas—religions, medical knowledge, and scientific and technological innovations passed in both directions and the Silk Road became a great network of veins and arteries, carrying the life-blood of nations across the known world. The Silk Road is a concise, more portable version of Jonathan Tucker’s acclaimed book, The Silk Road: Art and History, acclaimed by the Literary Review as “a beautiful book . . . the most informative work on the subject.” Replete with fascinating details of the main historical sites, works of art, accounts by ancient and modern travelers, legends, poetry and other literary references, photographs, maps, and site-plans, this will be essential reading for all those interested in or planning to travel the ancient Silk Road.

The goals of this book are to update information on the effects of rural road development, both in Nepal and globally, explain the environmental, socioeconomic, and sociocultural impacts of expanding rural road networks in the Nepalese Himalaya, and to promote further studies on rural road development throughout the world based on studies and investigations performed in Nepal. Readers will learn about the history of rural road development, as well as the challenges to effectively design and construct rural roads and how these obstacles may be overcome. Chapter one offers a global review of road development, and both the positive and negative impacts of rural road implementation. Chapter two defines mobilities within the context of coupled social and ecological systems, specifically in the Nepalese Himalaya. Chapters three through five detail the environmental, socioeconomic, and sociocultural impacts expanding rural road networks through several case studies. The concluding chapter summarizes the findings of the book, discussing the need for interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration to avoid negative consequences. This book will be of interest to teachers, researchers, policy makers, and development organizations.

Describes the history, geography, and people of Pakistan and the Silk Road section of western China and recommends hotels, restaurants, and attractions.

A great, untamed story about childhood, a summer holiday and a sinister tragedy that looms over everything.