How the important pioneers in the modern study of the Silk Roads have been remembered has changed substantially with each generation and very much been influenced by politics, nationalist discourse, the vagaries of academic fashion, and appeals to popular taste. The noted pioneer of Silk Road archaeology, Aurel Stein, came

1 This article was originally published as the editor’s introductory essay to The Silk Road 5/1 (2007): 1-10 (on-line at: http://www. silkroadfoundation. org/newsletter/vol5num1/srjournal_v5n1. pdf). Revisions of substance for the current publication include rewriting of the introductory paragraphs in order to add material on Richthofen’s career and some of the interpretations of Richthofen’s broader contributions to geography in the nuanced articles published in Die Erde 138/4 (2007), which I received when my article was already in print. The substance of my analysis of Richthofen’s discussion of the Silk Roads remains unchanged. The author is grateful to Dr. Susan Whitfield, Director of the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library, for her suggestions, including some key bibliographical references. Prof. Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann of the Freie Universität Berlin (who obtained for me a copy of Jäkel 2005 and the issue of Die Erde cited above), Dr. Helen Wang, Curator of East Asian Money in the Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum, and Dr. Philippe Forêt, now of the University of Nottingham, have also provided me with valuable suggestions. I am indebted to Prof. Dr. Dr. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and Justin Jacobs for sharing with me their then unpublished papers, cited below. Of course none of these individuals bears any responsibility for errors of commission or omission in my article.