Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road [Paperback]

This review addresses two questions: 1) why read a lengthy biography(s) of Sir Aurel Stein who, though famous in his lifetime and a continuing giant in scholarly circles, is today little known to the general public; and 2) which of the two biographies written about Stein should one read: Jeanette Mirsky's "Sir Aurel Stein--Archaeological Explorer" or Annabel Walker's "Aurel Stein--Pioneer of the Silk Road." (Both are available through Amazon.com.)

As to the first question, Stein was the pioneering and dominant archaeologist in the re-discovery during the early 20th century of the ancient civilizations of the eastern Silk Road. The desert and mountain areas he worked in western China and its borderlands with India and Tibet were among the most physically challenging on the planet. And his various projects in life extended well beyond that into India, Pakistan, Persia, and Syria. So a biography of Stein is both an immersion in ancient history and its resurrection, and a tale of adventure and exploration--though, let it be said, it is adventure without theater, because Stein (and thus perforce his biographers) in his writings focused not on the many perils he encountered but on the scientific results he achieved. The adventurous life and amazing fortitude of the man nonetheless come through between the lines.

The other, perhaps greater, reason to read a biography of Aurel Stein is not what he discovered, but who he was: his was the life fully lived. He remained active, healthy, and fully engaged until his death in Kabul in 1943 at age 81 on the verge of yet another archaeological expedition, and he lived his entire life vigorously and focused on a set of themes and projects for investigation which made that life amazingly productive, unified, and successful. It's what we all wish for ourselves--and from which many or most of us fall short. So this is a "feel good" story of human striving and great accomplishment. Until the modern era, we often read biographies of "great men" less for the particulars of the events they molded than for the models of character these people offered of how to live a good and significant life. An account of Stein's life is highly impressive and vicariously comforting in that regard, irrespective of your interest in the archaeology of the Silk Road.

As to the second question, there are two biographies from which to choose (itself a tribute to Stein, since few archaeologists are deemed fit subjects by even one biographer.) Jeanette Mirsky deserves great credit as his pioneer biographer. But Annabel Walker's is the book to read first. If it hooks you on Stein, then you will also find Mirsky's worthwhile, since it in some ways complements Walker's.

The two authors take different approaches. Walker's is a classic biography of external analysis which sorts the evidence. It is deep in insight, and moves quickly as a page-turner because Stein was always looking to the next project, which evolved logically out of his last endeavor or from new opportunities he encountered and exploited. His life thus follows a logical and linear but fascinating trajectory with a real sense of momentum. It's a sophisticated adventure story with a great spirit of unity and drive, and Walker captures that and with much insight smoothly analyzes the transition points (i.e., what lead to the next phase or episode) in a fast-paced but thorough account.

Mirsky's book is half devoted to excerpts from Stein's letters--which were voluminous, highly literate, and have been remarkably well preserved. The other half of her book is Mirksy's narrative framework of analysis (which in some cases exceeds even Walker's perceptiveness of Stein.) So with Mirsky you have part analysis, and part Stein in his own words. This has advantages and disadvantages. It gives you a more direct feel for Stein's character in his own words, and through his letters covers some topics more deeply than Walker does, such as Stein's tactics in dealing with Chinese officials, the British bureaucracy's view of their headstrong employee (he was nominally a school inspector in India but continually sought special dispensation to focus on archaeological projects), and his generosity towards his subordinates.

But Mirsky's attempt to mix analytical narrative with letter excerpts on a number of occasions lapses into more trivial detail from Stein's letters than necessary (Mirsky's book at 547 pre-index pages is no more complete in essence than Walker's at 355 pages), and at some points (particularly accounts of Stein's early life), it misses the forest for the trees and produces some confusion, in part due to failure to provide adequate editorial notes to explicate some of the names/incidents recounted in Stein's letters. Neither book, unfortunately, comes anywhere close to providing adequate maps with which to follow Stein's many journeys. But Walker's book is slightly better than Mirsky's in that regard.

Bottom line: read Walker's book first. It is enough. But if you like this man as much as I did and get "hooked," you will much enjoy Mirsky's book and a more direct exposure to Sir Aurel Stein in his own words and to some of Mirsky's very insightful observations as a follow-on.

Aurel Stein was not without his faults. From all indications, he believed in the white man's burden, and probably would have tolerated fascism for its efficiency except for the realization that Hitler's brand of it included anti-Semitism, and Stein was Jewish. Even the subtitle of the book, Pioneer of the Silk Road, is Eurocentric: there were already people living in the areas Stein explored, members of tribes Stein seems to have had no interest in or ability to differentiate among. Stein was the first white archaeologist in the area, and he did open up new methods of what can only be called archaeological plunder. Stein felt that if he hadn't taken those antiquities, there was a good chance they would have been destroyed where they were. He didn't know they'd sit unviewed in the British Museum for almost a hundred years after he took them. The real crime is that they are not now given back to China to help right past injustices. Stein's racial and cultural attitudes were a product of his time. He was too stuck in the framework of his own culture to be able to judge any other culture except by the standards of his own. Annabel Walker acknowledges Stein's shortcomings and yet brings him to life as an interesting, sympathetic individual. He loved his family and friends and dogs dearly, but beyond that, he loved the great Asian wildernesses that he roamed in, often at extreme peril. Walker evokes those places, makes us see them as he did. Walker shows us the "pluck", as Stein liked to call it, of the man, as well as his determination to shape his life as he wanted it, to pursue what interested him. He died the way he lived, in action, pursuing his dream even in his old age. Annabel Walker writes with insight and equanimity. Her research is painstaking, her writing style enjoyable and thought-provoking.

It is only through the work and people like Aurel Stein that we can retain knowledge of the past which otherwise would be forgotten and lost in the hands of specialized predators and thieves. Well written book.