Wool, cotton and silk have each played a crucial role in the fortunes of Central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing needed by the great nomadic cultures that were to dominate Middle Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and used as currency, creating a network of trading routes that led to the first outbreak of globalisation. Cotton was the cause of Russian and then Soviet Colonisation and continues to cause controversy today as well as human misery and environmental catastrophe The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road stratified wealth, displayed religious and political entrenchments and changed the fortunes of this fascinating part of the world; a meeting place between Mohammed and Marx.

Chris Alexander has spent many years living and working in the Middle East and Central Asia. He set up an ran a UNESCO workshop in Uzbekistan reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, trained yak herders in Tajikistan to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down and lived in the world’s largest natural walnut forest in Kyrgystan where he established a wood-carving workshop.  He has written several books on his experiences and leads tours to Central Asia