With the number of TV channels at our fingertips these days, your average night at home on the sofa becomes something of a lucky dip of entertainment. One such surprise was stumbling upon David Baddiel’s latest show, a four part travelogue along the 2000-year-old trade route of the Silk Road.
From East to West, Baddiel’s itinerary is similar to those of the ancient merchants and made fascinating viewing considering hour own publication of Julian Stockwin’s The Silk Tree.

In a further bit of coincidence, in the last episode Baddiel apparently harvested pigeon poo (nice work if you can get it eh?) in order to make gunpowder, which just so happens to be the crucial cultural discovery which is the subject of Stockwin’s next novel, The Powder of Death – out this August.

Lesley, Publishing Manager