Eastward to Tartary

the long version

"At its peak, the Ottoman empire stretched from Hungary to the Gulf of Aden to the Caspian Sea. Informed by a lifetime of travel and exploration, Eastward to Tartary takes you on a spellbinding journey into the heart of that still-unsettled region, a journey over land and through history.". "Through stories of characters past and present, Kaplan illuminates the tragic history of the lands in which he travels. He ventures from the famed archaeological ruins of Syria to the markets of Lebanon to the military outposts of Turkey and Israel; from Baku, capital of new business and new oil, across the Caspian Sea to the deserts of Turkmenistan and back to the killing fields of Armenia."--BOOK JACKET.