Chinese Central Asia

Henry Lansdell was one of the great travellers of the Victorian age. Unlike many explorers of the time he refused to see these remote lands as simply regions of thrills and barbarity. His cultural openness and scrupulous attention to detail combined to provide detailed accounts free from the usual racial and religious prejudices found in the works of the day. As a result his writing is of immense value. Chinese Central Asia details Lansdell's journey across the Tian Shan Mountains and into Western China, a journey of some 9,000 miles in all. He offers detailed descriptions of the people, their history and religion, their crafts and customs, modes of dress, natural history, trade and medicine. The two volumes provide the first account of Chinese Turkestan and contain an extensive bibliography of more than 750 books on Central Asia.

Henry Lansdell (1841-1919) was an explorer, missionary, geographer and philanthropist. He travelled extensively throughout his life, in particular undertaking arduous journeys of up to 12,000 miles to little known regions of Asia. His expeditions made him a key figure in opening up many hitherto unknown areas of China, Russia and Central Asia and led to his election to the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science