Journeys on the Silk Road: A Desert Explorer, Buddha%E2%80%99s Secret Library, and the Unearthing of the World%E2%80%99s Oldest Printed Book

In 1907, Hungarian explorer and archeologist Aurel Stein and his terrier, Dash, reached a remote Chinese cave housing a cache of ancient Buddhist scrolls. The grotto had been sealed off in the 11th century, and was being guarded by a Tibetan monk who allowed Stein to remove several specimens, including a woodblock-printed copy of the Diamond Sutra%E2%80%94dating back to 868 A.D.; it is the world%E2%80%99s oldest printed text. Morgan and Walters%E2%80%99s narrative is a captivating biography of the intrepid Stein, an intriguing history of the Sutra and the political and social upheavals that surrounded it, and an enthralling travelogue in its own right. Stein's expeditions%E2%80%94across scorching deserts and through frigid mountain passes%E2%80%94are described in detail, as is the journey of the Diamond Sutra from Stein's possession, to the British Museum in Bloomsbury (where, ironically, it was consigned again to a cave of sorts%E2%80%94the museum%E2%80%99s basement), to a stint in Wales during WWII when Britain funneled its most precious treasures out of the country for safekeeping. Both experienced journalists, the authors do an impeccable job of bringing readers into the action and situating the story in a broader%E2%80%94though no less riveting%E2%80%94historical context. (Sept.)