ROAD READS
ROAD READS
"Unknown Sands," by John W. Kropf
Sunday, July 16, 2006; Page P02
BOOK: "Unknown Sands," by John W. Kropf (Dusty Spark, $26)
TARGET AUDIENCE: People who can't tell one "Stan" from another.
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In the time of Alexander the Great, the area now called Turkmenistan rested at the edge of the known Western world. Knowledge of the insular nation hasn't improved much in the intervening centuries.
Kropf, who ran the USAID office there, probably had more freedom than most foreigners to meet the hospitable, if highly suspicious, Turkmen and to explore the wondrously arid landscape. This is a land once transected by the Silk Road and notable for its ancient city, Merv, which "rivaled Baghdad as a center of Islamic art, culture, and learning."
Merv is gone now. Unfortunately it was in the path not only "of the West's greatest empire builder, Alexander," but also that "of the East's greatest empire destroyer, Genghis Khan."
Subsequent domination by the Soviets didn't help, either. Poverty and paranoia now prevail.
Kropf blends his adventures on the "road" (loosely defined) with details of the modern daily struggle. It's an accessible and entertaining account.
-- Jerry V. Haines
