Catalog Search Results
2) Kazakhstan
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We continue our 8,000 kilometer journey across the old silk routes, traveling west from China, across remote deserts and snow-topped mountains, to explore the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. Sumnima Udas begns her journey at the China-Kazakhstan border exploring the countryside on a train destined for Uzbekistan. Other topics include Astana's architectural progress, the Green Bazaar in Almaty, and whitewater rafting at Turgen Gorge.
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China, a single-party state run from the very top, yet bubbling up from beneath, grassroots activism is pushing for much needed change. In recent years, NGOs and activist groups have sprung up around the country. From protesting against factory pollution, to striking for better salaries, to even delivering free meals to village children. And with the explosion of social media, these groups are more connected and better resourced than ever before....
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Alfred is awestruck by the modernity of life in Tashkent, the capital of present-day Uzbekistan and a major central Asian city. There is an incredible mix of ethnic groups in this part of the world. Our guide visits a silk factory—a must for anyone retracing the Silk Road. Then he treads the age-old route through the mountains to his next destination: Kyrgyzstan, the land of the nomads
5) Kyrgystan
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Osh is the first place Alfred visits in Kyrgyzstan. He saunters down the aisles of its bazaar, but soon realizes that the real Kyrgyzstan is to be found on the endless steppes and vast mountains, where you lose all notions of boundaries. Alfred learns about Kyrgyz identity from a girl student who tells him the tale of local legends at the foot of the "Throne of Solomon," the hill that overlooks the city. Then he sets off to find out more about the...
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"The Greater Middle East, the vast region between the Mediterranean and China encompassing much of the Arab world, parts of northern Africa, and Asia, existed for millennia as the crossroads of empire: Macedonian, Mongol, Ottoman, Russian, British. But with the dissolution of empires in the twentieth century, postcolonial states have struggled to maintain stability in the face of power struggles between factions, leadership vaccuums, and the fact...
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The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, in the town of Yasi (now Turkestan), was built at the time of Timur (Tamerlane), from 1389 to 1405. In this partly unfinished building, Persian master builders experimented with architectural and structural solutions later used in the construction of Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire. Today, it is one of the largest and best-preserved constructions of the Timurid period.
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The historic town of Samarkand is a crossroad and melting pot of the world’s cultures. Founded in the 7th century B.C. as ancient Afrasiab, Samarkand had its most significant development in the Timurid period from the 14th to the 15th centuries. The major monuments include the Registan Mosque and madrasas, Bibi-Khanum Mosque, the Shakhi-Zinda compound and the Gur-Emir ensemble, as well as Ulugh-Beg’s Observatory.
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As a teenager, Kate Harris realized that the career she craved--to be an explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and metaphysician--had gone extinct. From what she could tell of the world from small-town Ontario, the likes of Marco Polo and Magellan had mapped the whole earth; there was nothing left to be discovered. Looking beyond this planet, she decided to become a scientist and go to Mars. In between studying at Oxford and MIT, Harris set off by bicycle...
12) Tamburlaine
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Tamburlaine, a warrior, is successful in a variety of military conquests and in courting his rival's captive daughter. Eventually, his greed and vanity become too powerful and cause Tamburlaine to fall from a great and admirable Renaissance man to a life of ruin.
16) Mediastan
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English
Description
A small group of Wikileaks journalists make their way through Central Asia interviewing newspaper editors. Their real goal: to find local media outlets to publish secret US diplomatic cables. This intelligent, guerrilla-style doc follows their fascinating journey from Afghanistan to Manhattan, through the boundaries of free speech and the minds of those who shape our understanding of the world.
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The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road-both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this...
18) Huns
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"A history of the Huns, equestrian nomads of Central Asia who pillaged Europe and Asia from the third through fifth centuries"--Provided by publisher.
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The nations of South and Central Asia are as fascinating as they are diverse. Ranging from the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia to war-torn Afghanistan to the tiny mountain nation of Bhutan to the worlds second-most populous country, India, the region has been shaped by millennia of conquest, population migration, and, most recently, global geopolitics. The challenges currently facing South and Central Asia, which include overpopulation, food...