Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road

This book published by the Getty Trust is an invaluable record of the Magao Caves at Dunhuang, with stunning photos and a lively text. It's also a great introduction to the stories of such men as Xuanzang, Wang Yuanlu, Aurel Stein, Paul Pelliot, and all the other intriguing characters associated with this legendary site on China's Silk Road. The book lists Roderick and Susan Whitfield as authors, but clearly Roderick is the primary contributor. Susan's related book on Aurel Stein, "Aurel Stein on the Silk Road," has similarly great photos of Dunhuang's treasures but is accompanied by an unintelligible text. "Magao" contains not only the best photos available of the grottos, it's also a great read. If your appetite for Dunhuang's history goes beyond this lovely introduction, especially with regard to Stein and Xuanzang, you should try "Aurel Stein, Pioneer on the Silk Road," Annabel Walker's great biography of Stein, the remarkable British-Hungarian who recovered treasures from the caves and other sites 100 years ago for the British Museum. Another great book is Richard Bernstein's "Ultimate Journey," where this engaging New York Times reporter describes his recent trek down the Silk Road retracing the soletary journey of the famous monk who walked to India and back in 629-644 and brought back Buddhist sutras to Xian's Big Goose Pagoda so he could translate them into Chinese.