Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia

Veteran traveler and textile expert Chris Aslan explores the Silk, Wool and Cotton Roads of Central Asia.

Three textile roads tangle their way through Central Asia. The famous Silk Road united east and west through trade. Older still was the Wool Road, of critical importance when houses made from wool enabled nomads to traverse the inhospitable winter steppes. Then there was the Cotton Road, marked by greed, colonialism and environmental disaster.

At this intersection of human history, fort...