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20+ Works 1,462 Members 10 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the names: Karl E. Meyer, Karl E. Meyer

Works by Karl Ernest Meyer

Associated Works

The Worst Journey in the World (1922) — Introduction, some editions — 1,900 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 1999 (1999) — Author "To the Last Man" — 11 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Autumn 2002 (2002) — Author "Standoff in Afghanistan" — 7 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1928-05-22
Date of death
2019-12-22
Gender
male
Country (for map)
USA

Members

Reviews

Fascinating account of Central Asia and the conflict to control the area waged primarily by Great Britain and Russia.
 
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gbelik | 2 other reviews | Apr 29, 2021 |
Very good but unfortunately a bit dated
½
 
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busterrll | Jan 31, 2020 |
This was both fascinating and infuriating, not necessarily because of the the writing but the content. The China Collectors focuses on American collectors of Chinese art, which is sort of a niche thing to write about except it spans centuries from the early 1800s through today. There's echoes of the nineteenth century naturalists' attitude that art collectors seemed to share with the 'If we don't take this now to preserve, no one will see it in the future!' as an excuse to take priceless cave paintings and bas reliefs from walls of the Dunhuang caves. The modern new age trend towards the east as exotic mysticism is really only a historical rhyme of previous trends towards an Asian aesthetic. Bookending historical record are cases of how modern China is now a player in the art collecting world, full of both the newly rich looking to collect and a nationalist group looking to repatriate stolen goods.

I'm a tad bit torn because some of the looting is about as bad as the theft of the Elgin Marbles from Greece, but on the other hand having collections stateside means they're much more accessible to me in the future.
… (more)
 
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Daumari | 2 other reviews | Dec 30, 2017 |
Well written account of American efforts to collect the finest examples of Chinese art for private and museum collections. Interesting accounts of the explorations for these works as well as the earliest art dealers who worked to export the cultural legacy of China. Turmoil within China aided in the removal of some of the finest works and the political history of China is integrated well into this fascinating story. Altogether, this is a fascinating look at one segment in the growth of encyclopedic museums in the U.S.… (more)
 
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15minutes | 2 other reviews | Jul 19, 2016 |

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Works
20
Also by
3
Members
1,462
Popularity
#17,576
Rating
4.1
Reviews
10
ISBNs
36
Languages
2

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