Kushan Mystique

Kushan Mystique is in part a personal narrative, and in part a profile of people and places encountered as a result of David Jongeward&;s Kushan research and travels. The story begins in a lakeside cottage in northern California where the author describes circumstances leading to his departure from a career in cultural anthropology to a slowly evolving interest in the ancient history of Central Asia, eventually specializing in Kushan coinage and the Buddhist sculpture of Gandhara. The narrative includes accounts of meetings with collectors and curators and other specialists, detailed descriptions of Mr. Jongeward&;s museum-based research, as well as his visits to major archaeological sites in Pakistan that date to the Kushan era. The book includes discussions on the succession of Kushan kings and the Kushan pantheon of deities.