Chakra

About the Book

Lee Ingalls is living in Kokand, the capital of an obscure Central Asian republic. Her husband, a US Commerce Department consultant, introduces local entrepreneurs, only recently freed from Soviet rule, to the joys of capitalism. But as a scholar of the ancient Vedic language that was spoken in the region five thousand years earlier, Lee came to Kokand with other expectations. Now she is bored by her husband's ambition and disgusted by the amorous President of the republic, whom she is tutoring in English. Then an incredibly ancient artifact is discovered on the floor of the Aral Sea, and she is plunged into an adventure that calls on all her fortitude and knowledge. Ancient myth becomes current reality as she transforms her life in an effort to save the world.

About the Author

Richard Bulliet is a specialist on the Middle East and the Islamic world. A historian at Columbia University for over thirty-five years, he has written books on Iranian history ("Islam: The View from the Edge"), religious conversion ("Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period"), climate history ("Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran"), human-animal relationships ("Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers"), and contemporary Islamic affairs ("The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization").

His classroom lectures on Iranian history and the modern history of the Middle East are publicly available on iTunes University--Columbia. Videos of his lectures on world history are available on YouTube.

His works of fiction, beginning with "Kicked to Death by a Camel," which was nominated in 1973 for an Edgar Award in the category of Best First Mystery, blend expertise on the Middle East region with political intrigue and mystery. His latest novel is "The One-Donkey Solution."

Born in Rockford, Illinois, he lives in Manhattan.