The Gate of Asia: A Journey from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea

William Warfield

tammi 1916 · G.P. Putnam's Sons

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The first chapter of this book gives a brief justification for writing a travel memoir about these particular civilizations. The author begins with the problem of defining the border between East and West. Physical geography is inadequate, since human civilizations span geographic dividing lines, but the civilizations themselves are also inadequate to draw definite lines. He identifies the cultural influence of Persian and Syrian (and Turkish) peoples as the clear dividing line between "east" and "west," defining them together as "The Gate of Asia." Warfield describes and discusses the places and cultures he visits. The conditions of roads in cities, for example, or the number and type of languages local people know, are included. He repeats stories of local color that he hears from Europeans living along his route.