Following the Amber Route from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, C.J. Schuler charts the origins of amber, the myths and legends that have grown around it, and the dazzling artefacts crafted from it and traded along the way.
Following the Amber Route from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, C. J. Schuler charts the origins of amber, the myths and legends that have grown around it, and the dazzling artefacts crafted from it and traded along the way. Schuler reflects on the route's violent history through the centuries, not least his own family's experience of persecution and flight.
Charming.
* The Daily Mail *Wonderful account of the story of amber.
-- Phillip Adams * Late Night Live on ABC *This timely and powerful book is more than an enticing travelogue or a paean to amber.
-- Sue Gaisford * The Financial Times *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 *A rich and rewarding read, providing a kaleidoscopic multi-layered view of Central Europe.'
* BookBlast *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 JamaicaArtfully 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 RoomAn excellent book, and perfect holiday reading. Deeply moving.
* Edward Biddulph, Oxford Archaeology *Schuler is the perfect guide to this complex history.
-- Vanora Bennett * Vanora Bennett *C.J. Schuler is the author of three illustrated histories of cartography: Mapping the World, Mapping the City and Mapping the Sea and Stars and co-author of the best-selling Traveller's Atlas. His most recent book, Writers, Lovers, Soldiers, Spies: A History of the Authors' Club of London, 1891-2016 was published in November 2016.
He has also written on literature, travel and the arts for The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Tablet, The Financial Times and the New Statesman. He was chairman of the Authors' Club from 2008 to 2015.