Book recommendation

[marcus]

I have to admit that this is only vaguely related to Alexander, but I recommend it all the same.I'm getting to the end of "The Road to Oxiana" by Robert Byron. Byron went travelling in Persia and Afghanistan in 1933-34 and his diary of the trip is scholarly, witty, and very informative. He spends a lot of time in Herat and visits places such as Persepolis, Yezd, Mazar-al-Sherif, etc. etc. His main interest was medieval Islamic architecture, but there are some passing references to Alexander, naturally.Most interesting, however, are his descriptions of the people he encounters, particularly in Afghanistan. Not only do things not appear to have changed much in the past 70 years, but I also get the distinct impression that things haven't changed much in the last 2000 years - so anyone interested in what the Baktrians that Alexander encountered were like will find this book most illuminating.I'm going to move on to Freya Stark and Gertrude Bell, next...All the bestMarcus

[S]

Greetings Marcus,Yes, despite some of the "orientalist ethnocentrism" in interpreting what was seen, I enjoy reading these older books. It is hard to imagine how much the current world has changed these areas *until* one reads these earlier books and realizes how little the areas had changed at that time! Sad to say, much is now disappearing, infected by modernism and global corporate invasions (the homogenization of the world- a MacDonalds in every village-ugh). A small number of people are trying to record, photograph, notate much that is vanishing, but it disappears so fast that the task has become almost impossible. Enjoy the reading!
Regards,
Sikander

[dean]

Hello,Sounds like interesting reading Marcus.
My only little literary incursion into Persian territory was with Olmstead's History of the Persian Empire which I must admit it was not the most entertaining of books.
So it would be refreshing to read the book you mention.
Best regards,
Dean.

[marcus]

You'll find this one *very* different.I'm also just about to embark on "Persia in the Great Game", which is all about Sir Percy Sykes' travels and skullduggery against the Russians at the end of the 19th century. The Great Game is another of my major historical interests - mainly because it all happened in Afghanistan, Persia and other parts of Central Asia.Oh, it all hangs together in the end! :-)All the bestMarcus

[marcus]

I know what you mean about the "orientalist ethnocentrism" - on the other hand, I find that interesting in itself because of the insight it gives into popular thinking at the time.What's nice about Byron is that he is completely in awe of the architecture (which was his main field of study - a sort of 20th century Ruskin), but while he seems to feel great empathy with the common people he is overtly critical of the Shah's regime. (And also it's interesting to see what he has to say about Hitler, even in 1933).Anyway, back to AlexnaderAll the bestMarcus

[S]

Greetings Marcus,Of course! I am not saying such books should not be read, but agree that the ethnocentrism itself is part of the additional knowledge. A non-Alexander related book that addresses this in relation to "The National Geographic" is interesting, I *think* it was called "Veils and Daggers" but I cannot recall at this moment.I enjoy reading the books written pre-1930 that relate to travels in Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Afghanistan, etc precisely *because* the travellers were able to look at the ancient world still relatively untouched by globalization..There is another one, a bit more modern, in the book review section that i enjoyed thoroughly, too- cannot recall the title, but it was photographs of greece et al via plane.. quite interesting to see it from the air.Regards,
Sikander

[beausefaless]

Greetings Marcus,I love these types of books and I would like to thank you Marcus for the inspiration to recall this fascinating article in the National Geographic Magazine (Vol.133,No.1 January,1968) called "In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great" traveled by Helen and Frank Schreider, meeting all the different peoples in their way of life that hasn't changed in three centuries. The thought of Alexander led an entourage that sometimes swelled to 120,000. He brought Greek engineers to build battle equipment, architects to lay out new cities, geographers and surveyors to map captured domains, and archivist to keep daily records. Let us not forget the camp followers: traders, opportunists, women and children of his men, and the logistics involved. Regards,Andrew

[beausefaless]

Greetings Sikander,
This is the exact reason when I say if it wasn't for man the horse would have never survived, because of the growth (also dog & cat food) of man, let's us use the United States for an example, the wild horse population are driven to remote areas in Nevada even there their population are controlled for obvious reasons. We use the horse for riding, packing, show, racing, rodeo, movies and if it wasn't for theses reasons the horse would not be around. The use of the horse for travel, communications, war and logging, well, these days are long gone also the farms that provide hay are slowly disappearing to make room for housing and shopping centers. The combination of man and the horse made man what he is today.

Regards,
Andrew

[marcus]

Hi Andrew,I would so love to get my hands on that NG issue - I've seen Susan's copy, but it would have been very rude for me to try and steal it from her... :-)I'm almost finished with "The Road to Oxiana" now. He's getting closer to the Oxus and there are references to bridges that the locals say Alexander built, and there's also been a reference to "Alexander's Wall" - the first literary reference to it that I've encountered.All the bestMarcus

[S]

Greetings Marcus,I run into these sometimes- will keep you in mind..
Anybody need a copy of the 1978 NG with the Tomb pictures? There is one here, just getting older.Also there were a number of issues from the 1919's, etc with some interesting photos of the lands and people that preserve some of the ancient orld flavour- I should jog down and see if those are still around- I didn't realize people would be collecting those, or I would have been picking them up for those who wanted them..Regards,
Sikander

[amyntoros]

Marcus, I have a spare copy of the article from the 1968 National Geographic. It isn't the complete issue -just the article on Alexander with the pages stapled together. I pick up old National Geographics all the time at tag sales, but I don't have the shelf space to keep them intact, and I just can't pass up anything on Alexander. Email me if you want the article.All the best,
Linda Ann

[marcus]

Well, of course, I would *never* want to pass up on an offer like that.If it wouldn't be too much trouble for you, I'd love a copy. Happy, of course, to reimburse any copying & postage costs.CheersMarcus