From the time of Marco Polo's trek across the Central Asian desert to the empire of the mighty Kahn-an epic journey called a hoax by some, no other place on earth, not the languid South Pacific or even deepest, darkest Africa-has so challenged and enchanted the Western imagination as have the fabled lands of the East! And so it is today. However soaked in blood its history and no matter how unsettling its social conditions and poverty-Asia has never lost its irresistible attraction. For it is deeply rooted in Western dreams as a sometimes scary but always enticing fantasy. So popular has Asia been as an inspiration for Western novelists that more than 5000 novels have been set in Asia in the English language alone. Storied names like Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, Pearl S. Buck, George Orwell, Graham Greene, E.M. Forster and many more have used their experiences in Asia as a vibrant backdrop for some of the world's most famous works of literature.