[Rebelbase]

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk tells the story of the organized looting of Central Asian temples by Western explorers and collectors late 1800s-early 1900s.

And I can't mention Hopkirk's name without referencing his book Mission to Tashkent which tells the story of FM Baily, a British agent trapped in Central Asia by the Russian Civil War. This guy was James Bond when Flannery O'Connell was in diapers. He was so good at spycraft and disguise that the Cheka hired him to capture himself. Great firsthand insight into the depredation and brutality of the Bolsheviks.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks.

[PapaBear3625]

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk tells the story of the organized looting of Central Asian temples by Western explorers and collectors late 1800s-early 1900s.

I'm reminded of what the Taliban Muslims did to the Buddha statues in Afghanistan, and how Islam is down on pre-Islamic art. The collectors probably saved a lot from destruction.