In westernmost China lie 100,000 square miles of desert and misery. Once cities thrived here, oases enriched by China's fabled Silk Road, until war and the desert did them in. It's a wasteland so cruel its name itself is a warning 'Taklimakan' means those who go in don't come out. Two courageous men entered the Taklimakan one in search of truth, the other, treasure. Both battled for their lives against the haunted desert and in the grip of death found treasures that would change the world. Budapest, Hungary, 1872. A studious 10 year old explores a map of Central Asia. Fascinated by the exotic East, young Aurel Stein follows the path of his hero, Alexander the Great. The first world's conqueror marched his armies from the Mediterranean all the way to India. The land where Alexander's conquest ended captivated the boy. Much of the region where east meets west was so wild and remote it had never been mapped. Here treasures from a secret past surely lay hidden in sands. The shy young scholar's obsession surprised no one. So lost in ideas was the boy that his own family considered him boring. What no one could guess how firmly this region and habit of solitude would shape Aurel Stein's life.