Author Description

Bukhara, also transliterated Bukhoro and Bokhara, is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia and the city itself has existed for half that time. Located on the Silk Road, the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion. The historic center of Bukhara, which contains numerous mosques and madrassas, has been listed by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.Olufsen¿s travel narrative, originally published in 1911, contains an exhaustive and well-balanced account of Bokhara based on observations during two journeys. The country is described under three headings, Mountain Bokhara, Steppe Bokhara and Desert Bokhara. The style is in part descriptive and in part narrative. In addition to the chapters mentioned, there are valuable accounts of the climate, the vegetation and animals, the inhabitants, diseases and all the facts in the life of the community with which the anthropologist deals. The chapter on climate, taken in connection with that on disease, is especially interesting. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of black and white photographs, as well as a large folding map in the pocket.