Additional information
by Christopher Wilton-Steer (Photographer), Peter Frankopan (Foreword by)
The Silk Road: A Living History is a vibrant visual journey from renowned travel photographer and writer Christopher Wilton-Steer, allowing readers to explore the cities, landscapes, and communities along the storied Silk Road with the turn of a page.
In 2019, Wilton-Steer left London for the trip of a lifetime. Armed with his camera, he followed the historic trade route from one end of Eurasia to the other, traversing 16 countries between England and China. As he zigzagged over 40,000 kilometers, crossing borders via car, bus, train, ferry, horse, and camel, his lens captured the essence of the Silk Road, from the Renaissance masterpieces of Venice to the bustling bazaars of Iran and the serene landscapes of Kyrgyzstan. The resulting collection of 160 photographs offers an intimate glimpse into the richness of cultures and the enduring legacy of connectivity that define the legendary trade network. Featuring thoughtful essays by the photographer and a preface by Oxford historian and bestselling author Peter Frankopan, The Silk Road: A Living History tells the story of one journey across Eurasia. It is a celebration of diversity, the traditional practices and customs that live on today, and the flourishing connections that endure along this historical, human network.Author Biography
Christopher Wilton-Steer is a renowned travel photographer whose work takes him to remote and off-the-beaten-track locations across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His photography explores less well documented and often misunderstood parts of the world in an effort to build bridges of interest and understanding between distant cultures and bring attention to diminishing cultures.
His work has been featured in the likes of National Geographic, The Guardian, China Daily, the Financial Times, and CNN, as well as in exhibitions around the world since 2016. Wilton-Steer also serves as Global Lead for Communications at the Aga Khan Foundation. The Silk Road: A Living History is his first book, comprising over 100 photographs alongside travel notes and reflections.
Wilton-Steer lives with his family in Nairobi, Kenya.
Peter Frankopan is a Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he is the Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research and Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College. He is also the UNESCO Professor of Silk Roads Studies and a Bye-Fellow at King's College, Cambridge. He works on the history and politics of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Middle East, Persia/Iran, Central Asia, China and beyond.
Frankopan is a bestselling author, and his books The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (2015), The New Silk Roads: The Future and Present of the World (2018) and The Earth Transformed (2023) have been translated into forty languages. Cultivating an interest in historical trade routes for over four decades, Frankopan brings his expertise to the preface of The Silk Road: A Living History.
