Light, portable and high in value, amber is an ideal commodity for long-distance trade. An Amber Route, comparable to the Silk Road, ran from the Baltic to the Mediterranean for thousands of years.

In Along the Amber Route, C.J. Schuler follows this route by bus, train and boat for 2,500 kilometres along river valleys, forest paths and Roman roads. His journey traces both the greatest fault lines of European geopolitics and his own family's history. As he explores lands contested by Romans and Vandals, Teutons and Slavs, lost empires and the former Iron Curtain, Schuler must also confront his own family history, Nazism and the Holocaust.

About the Author

C.J. Schuler is the author of three illustrated histories of cartography: Mapping the World, Mapping the City and Mapping the Sea and Stars and co-author of the best-selling Traveller's Atlas. His most recent book, Writers, Lovers, Soldiers, Spies: A History of the Authors' Club of London, 1891-2016 was published in November 2016.

He has also written on literature, travel and the arts for The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Tablet, The Financial Times and the New Statesman. He was chairman of the Authors' Club from 2008 to 2015.

Reviews

Charming.

* The Daily Mail *

Wonderful account of the story of amber.

* Late Night Live on ABC *

This timely and powerful book is more than an enticing travelogue or a paean to amber.

* The Financial Times *

Packed with intriguing diversions through former Soviet states, the author's journey begins in St Petersburg's Amber Room and intertwines with the story of his grandfather's flight from Nazi Germany.

* Lonely Planet *

A rich and rewarding read, providing a kaleidoscopic multi-layered view of Central Europe.'

* BookBlast *

Crisp, quirky dialogue and incisive scene-sketching [...] full of incident and anecdote and the oddest facts imaginable. Pure pleasure.

Artfully woven into these stories is a contemporary travelogue of [Schuler's] experience; a poetic memoir of his experience of constantly moving through these landscapes

An excellent book, and perfect holiday reading. Deeply moving.

* Edward Biddulph, Oxford Archaeology *

Schuler is the perfect guide to this complex history.

* Vanora Bennett *



Book Information
ISBN 9781913207991
Author C.J. Schuler
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Sandstone Press Ltd
Publisher Sandstone Press Ltd
Weight(grams) 337g
Dimensions(mm) 195mm * 130mm * 25mm