Description

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.

Publisher Review

An excellent book, and perfect holiday reading. Deeply moving. * Edward Biddulph, Oxford Archaeology * 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 -- Rachel Lichtenstein, author of Estuary and Rodinsky's Room Crisp, quirky dialogue and incisive scene-sketching [...] full of incident and anecdote and the oddest facts imaginable. Pure pleasure. -- Ian Thomson, author of The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica A rich and rewarding read, providing a kaleidoscopic multi-layered view of Central Europe.' * BookBlast * 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 * This timely and powerful book is more than an enticing travelogue or a paean to amber. -- Sue Gaisford * The Financial Times * Wonderful account of the story of amber. -- Phillip Adams * Late Night Live on ABC * Charming. * The Daily Mail *