The Wandering Lake: Into the Heart of Asia (Tauris Parke Paperbacks) - Softcover

Hedin, Sven

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9781848850224: The Wandering Lake: Into the Heart of Asia (Tauris Parke Paperbacks)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848850220 ISBN 13: 9781848850224

Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2010

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The lake of Lop Nur, the *Heart of the heart of Asia,* is one of the world’s strangest phenomena. Situated in the wild Chinese province of Xinjiang, Lop Nur - *The wandering lake*- has for millennia been in a perpetual state of flux, drifting north to south, often tens of kilometres in as many years. It was once the lifeblood of the great Silk Road kingdom of Loulan, which flourished in this otherwise barren region 2,000 years ago and its peculiar movements confused even Ptolemy, who marked the lake twice on his map of Asia.

Sven Hedin became captivated by the Lop Nur's peripatetic movements and for forty years his destiny was inextricably linked with that of this mysterious lake and the region surrounding it. His last journey to Lop Nur was in 1934. Travelling the length of the Konche-daria and Kum-daria rivers by canoe, Hedin embarked on his last Central Asian expedition and proved what he had always suspected - that Lop Nur did indeed shift position - and why. When he camped on its vast banks at night, Lop Nur was deep and full. Today, this once great lake - a a mighty reservoir in the desert - is nothing but windblown sand and salty marsh. The third in Sven Hedin’s Central Asia trilogy, The Wandering Lake is a gripping story of adventure and discovery but it is also a rare account of a now-vanished world; a masterpiece by one of history’s last great explorers.

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Book Description:

Classic travel accounts through Asia by the legendary Swedish geographer who located the roots of many of the continent's famed rivers, and became decorated worldwide for his writing and work with Asia's peoples.

From the Author:

Praise for Sven Hedin

The Silk Road:

"The book is full of incident.. an entertaining account with picturesque descriptions and no less extraordinary personalities." --The Geographical Journal

My Life as an Explorer:

"No syllable is wasted…each sentence is as vibrant as the lilt of a Norse saga." --New York Times

The Trail of War:

"There is breathless excitement in this story. Suspense, action, all the elements of a good adventure story, only this is not fiction." --New York Herald Tribune

"Hedin’s lively account of his travails is related with the immediacy and urgency of a war correspondent." --John Hare

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