The Silk Road

I can't point you to reliable traditional information sources, never having taken a trip there myself, but I know that Mir Corporation runs tours in that area. I believe it's a respected company. You might find some useful information on its web site.

I know someone who did a Silk Road tour with this company in September and liked it very much: http://www.geoex.com

If you're looking at books available through Amazon, note that you can sort your search results by publication date.

If you look on a publisher's own web site, such as Lonely Planet, book details will usually indicate when they expect to publish the next edition.

Of course, if your local library has any books on the topic, they can get you started without being necessarily up-to-date.

Thanks all--I will follow up!!!

I'm actually writing this from Bukhara, Uzbekistan where I am part of an alumni tour sponsored by my college. They contracted with MIR, a travel agency with offices in Seattle, to run the tour. So far, it's been terrific. You might check with them to see what tours they offer to the general public. They specialize in the former Soviet Union, which includes Central Asia.