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  • Conquering the Desert of Death

  • Across the Taklamakan
  • By: Charles Blackmore
  • Narrated by: Mark Kitto
  • Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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Conquering the Desert of Death

By: Charles Blackmore
Narrated by: Mark Kitto
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Summary

The ferocious Taklamakan desert in Central Asia, one of the largest sandy deserts in the world and the harshest on earth, is known by the Chinese as the desert of death or the place of no return. Its unknown depths are said to be haunted by demons and spirits, and legend has it that ancient cities filled with treasure lie lost and buried beneath its dunes.

The only certainty is that no human being in history had ever crossed it from end to end. But after five years of planning, in 1993, Charles Blackmore together with a team of the British, the Chinese, and Uyghurs and a caravan of 30 camels, set out to accomplish the seemingly impossible: They would cross the Taklamakan, west to east, directly through its unmapped, untrodden center.

Conquering the Desert of Death is at once a deeply personal journey and the story of an adventure that will go down in history as one of the great achievements of exploration.

©2007 Charles Blackmore (P)2020 Charles Blackmore
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Crossing the Taklamakan

I'm not one to normally write reviews, but I felt compelled to do so for this audiobook. I was given the hard copy of this book to read, by a friend, and thoroughly enjoyed it then, and have been searching for this book ever since I joined Audible. Finally I found it, and I'm glad I did!

Its a brilliant story of the crossing of the much feared Taklamakan Desert, from the embryonic stages of the idea, to the full account of the actual expedition. It covers the perils of such an undertaking, and brings you along as if you are in the desert with them. It is also very interesting to hear about the challenges encountered on the crossing, and within the team especially the Chinese members, and their relationship with the Uyghurs, all the more interesting given the current news regarding them.

Read by Mark, a member of the crossing party. Who read it very well, I wish there was a section at the end where he could have added his own thoughts as well, but this in no way takes away from the book!
I highly recommend this book, and I shall be listening to it again and again.

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