NEW Book - "CARAVANSERAI - Traces, Places, Dialogue in the Middle East" by Tom SCHUTYSER

 Caravanserai: Traces, Places, Dialogue in the Middle East 

Both photo essay and travelogue, this stunning volume documents the caravanserais of the Levant region in the Middle East.

Tom Schutyser’s powerful photographs are illuminated by contributions from some of the most eminent writers, thinkers, and journalists specializing in the Middle East and foreign relations. The result is an engaging new perspective on both the history and current-day affairs of this region.


The caravanserai were roadside inns built to shelter men, goods, and animals along the Silk Road that connected China, Central Asia, and Europe in ancient times. These staging posts formed the world's first globalized overland network and stand as a testament to a flourishing period of multicultural exchange in the Muslim world. Today, the ruined and restored caravanserai of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, captured in CARAVANSERAI: TRACES, PLACES, DIALOGUE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (5 Continents; October 2012; $50.00 US; 90 color and black-and-white photographs; 180 pages; in English and in French) by Belgian photographer and writer Tom Schutyser, serve as a platform for an era of renewed cross-cultural exchange. Stunning photographs of these vanishing caravan routes and their surrounding landscapes welcome readers to engage in a dialogue on healing relations between the Muslim and Western worlds, in the same way the inns once welcomed travelers and pilgrims to share goods, ideas, and discoveries. 

Photographs and texts by Tom Schutyser, introduction by Andrew Lawler, contributions by Reza Aslan, Robert Fisk, Rachid al-Dai•f, Dominique Moï•si, and Paul Salem. 

Caravanserai: Traces, Places, Dialogue in the Middle East

5 Continents Edition

October 2012

U.S. $50.00

Hardcover; 90 color and black-and-white photographs; 180 pages; 11 ½ X 9 ½ inches

ISBN: 978-88-7439-604-7