Letters from the Silk Roads ─ Thinking at the Crossroads of Civilization

Letters From the Silk Roads is the English translation of Eiji Hattori's Bumei no kosaro de kangaeru (Kodansha Press). The book describes the land and sea routes that connected Eurasia, helping to dispel certain cultural warps in modern world history and international relations. Hattori argues persuasively that the silk roads and the spice routes are really part of the same dynamic and vast network. Even today there are echoes, memories, and impacts from the silk roads that affect whole cultures and civilizations and sometimes spell the difference between war and peace, or preservation of the earth and its continual ruin. The Silk Road is a metaphor for worldwide intercultural cooperation in the new millennium. Hattori does a comparative East-West analysis of various political, philosophical, and ecological issues, particularly in Eurasia. This book is culturally enriching to students from high school to college level and readers interested in an intellectually challenging text.

Eiji Hattori was a Professor at Reitaku University, Japan, after 21 years of service to UNESCO.