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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 200
EAN num: 9780312233389
ISBN number: 0312233388
Label: Palgrave Macmillan
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 208
Printing Date: September 02, 2000
Publishing house: Palgrave Macmillan
Sale Popularity Level: 45766
Studio: Palgrave Macmillan
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Product Description:
Ever since the label was coined in the late 19th century, the idea of the Silk Road has captivated the Western imagination with images of fabled cities and exotic peoples. Religions of the Silk Road looks behind the romantic notions of the colonial era and tells the story of how cultural traditions, especially in the form of religious ideas, accompanied merchants and their goods along the overland Asian trade routes in pre-modern times. As early as three thousand years ago Hebraic and Iranian religious ideas and practices traveled eastwards in this way, to be followed centuries later by the great missionary traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. But the Silk Road was more than just a conduit along which these religions hitched rides East; it was a formative and transformative rite of passage, and no religion emerged unchanged at the end of the journey.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is a short introduction to how major world religions interacted and changed along the Silk Road. The book assumes a certain amount of background in middle and far eastern history (and a background will make the reading far more comprehensible), because in a 144-page monograph an in-depth discusion of religious and political histories of Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam is simply not possible.
The book is not presented in a strictly chronological fashion. The very first chapter is a (sometimes disjointed) introduction of general historiographical issues. Chapters 2 through 5 cover Iranian/Jewish religions, Buddhism, Christianity/Manichaeism and Islam respectively. Chapter 6 covers religious competition during the Mongol period, and Chapter 7 discusses the modern predominance of Islam in Central Asia. As a result, chapter 3 (on Buddhism) can be a bit confusing when it refers to the impact of Islamic history, which is not presented until Chapter 5 -- and then only superficially.
This arrangement can be very helpful for a reader who wants to concentrate on a specific religion, and the book is very well-sourced, so that a serious student knows where to look for more detail. But it is probably not helpful for the beginner.
I would recommend this book for a student who has taken a few classes on Middle or Far Eastern history, and who has at least some background in Islam, Christianity and/or Buddhism. I would also recommend it to anyone who needs a general introduction before a more in-depth study.
Rated by buyers -
I came around this book because it is often cited in books on Central Asia, the Silk Road, Buddhism and also in the last book I read on Xuanzang. The Authors that use it as a citation do not want to explore more deeply some concepts they are treating at the moment so they indicate this text with such an encompassing title as the ultimate resource for omitted information. So when you finally see the book, the small dimensions dampen a little the enthusiasm.
Certainly, the subject is large and the chronological time interval extends from the very first millenium BCE to the fifteenth centure CE, while the geographical boundaries go from China to Persia and from North India to Russia considering all the Silk Road extensions. Simplification of such a vast panorama is evidently necessary and this is precisely what the Author has done. He has succeeded in condensing the history of well known and less well known religions into a comprehensive didactic text.
The very first chapter states the epistemiological guidelines utilized: the importance of trade for diffusion of religion, the supposed role of women in the transmission of faiths, the division between proselytizing and non proselytizing religions and the difference in acceptance of new beliefs from the center to the periphery, the consideration of the practicality and belonging to the dominant social class as the main drive to acceptance of new forms of faith.
In the following chapters Zoroastrism, Buddhism, Judaism, Nestorian Christianity and Islam are all described and a brief story of their expansion and fortunes is delineated. The book makes two really good points in these chapters one is on the syncretism of all these religions in time and space on the Silk Roads and the other is the concept of Central Asia as a refuge for heretics. Another interesting aspect for non accademics is the description of less well known sects such as the Radanites (merchant Jews from France that practically converted the Khazars)and the description of the Kushan reign that disappeared forever in the sands of history.
Finally there is a wide overview on the religious conquest by Islam of the entire Central Asia and the fading away of all other religious beliefs. The role of sufis is emphatized more than that of the sword. There is one chapter called "Ecumenical mischief" that seems like a small essay inserted in this otherwise schematic text, that dwells on the attempts of missionaries of all faiths to convert the Mongols and on the intestine quarrels between Nestorians and Muslims in the Il-Khan lands. The indepth outlook of these episodes makes one desire the whole book were written with such a research detail since the bird view approach is one of its defects.
Accademic reviewers affirm Prof. Folz makes a few mistakes in dates and historical interpretations and that he has utilized exclusively English sources. The general reader, naturally, does not capture these subtle details. However, since this book is really very cited and has the great advantage of covering such a wide time and space span, a new and revised edition would be welcomed.
The reading is fluent and sometimes it is necessary to reread in order to fully appreciate all the information. The Notes and the Bibliography are rich, so this text can be of help to students, entertain historical fans even if it does fall short of completeness and real satisfaction.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a lovely book. Artfully written and insightfully presented, Foltz does an outstanding job of covering a variety of complex topics in a relatively short space. I very first got a copy via interlibrary loan while doing research, but liked the book so much I ordered a copy just to have it handy.
Rated by buyers 
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I read this book for my History of Asia class. As far as I know no one was impressed with it and had many problems with it.
First, Foltz starts out speaking of religons that hardly anyone in the class had heard of as if we are supposed to know all about them. He does explain them later, but in the very first chapters he refrences them without giving any backround information. Most of us were relativly inteligant and felt as if Fotlz were making fools of us. I also felt as if he were stating assumtions rather than facts. It was alot of information in a small amount of time and therefor had to follow.
Rated by buyers 
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Photos and personalities might provide greater interest but, in fairness, this book is still one of the best introductions to thousands of years of history and many great world religions. Especially for Eurocentric or American readers it is well worth reading. If interested in the religions follow up with Huston Smith; to broaden the history (despite the title) McNeil's Rise of the West is still rewarding.
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