The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

THE SILK ROADS by Peter Frankopan A New History Of The World It's true to say that history is a story told by the winner. It's all very well to get a big head and wield a sword as a now victor; but it's of pivotal importance to remember that forces on the other side or on the periphery would be flexing their muscles, on the alert for a chance to settle scores. Peter Frankopan, a historian based at Oxford University and the author of THE SILK ROADS, has a prodigiously profound insight on historical events and is an extraordinarily hard-working researcher which we know from 100 pages of notes and bibliography accompanying 507 pages of text. This book is something none other than Peter himself couldn't have written. He pulled multiple strands together in this single great work. An epic story indeed! Incredibly informative and compellingly attractive. This ambitious book spans centries, continents and cultures. It shows a historical tapestry woven with his epochal perspective: how cultures, slaves, products, natural resources, religions and ways of life have been traded for over two thousand years; how the center of powers has changed so far and which it's heading into. This book takes the form of a series of what marked milestones in global history chronologically arranged from ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia to the Crusades to the post ww2 era to the recent consideration of Turkey joining the SCO not the EU to the present when half-a-mile-long trains carrying millions of products from China to Germany in just sixteen days and vice versa. It of course includes factual accounts of events with the additional explanations on the causality between some nitty-gritty issues. But what the author is really willing to give is a warning against solving today's problems without worrying tomorrow's. THE SILK ROADS enables us all who read it to see a broad region that had been or is in turmoil. It reveals the dangers of the lack of perspective about global history. Great turning points in human history, I've learned from this book, have been bound together by, against the backdrop of, many big and small talks and decisions which occurred in the barren steppes, in conference rooms, on the phone and sometimes in a prison cell. I owe much to Peter Frankopan. My knowledge of the world history was admittedly sparse. When it comes to history related literature, I, as a person who had no interest in the stuff of global history, have only read several books focusing on a narrow subject matter over shortening timeframesㅡUNBROKEN, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, DEAD WAKE, just to name a few. Now, after reading this book from beginning to end, highlighting and underlining sentences, making notes in the margins, I feel my heart ten times more fluttering than when I first saw the jacket image of an incredibly beautiful decorative ceiling of a certain madrasah in Uzbekistan. There is a greater quiver of excitement now in my mind than there was just after reading 7-page preface which made me all aflutter in anticipation of the following text. The bottom line: go online with your smart phone to do a search for THE SILK ROADS by Peter Frankopan, add it to cart and proceed to checkout! Some time later you would take a few stride forward to the reality of how the world works.

This text is well written and well researched. Not sure what bias one of the lengthy one star reviews is talking about. Not going to get into a refutation of those complaints. What needs to be recognized here is that the focus on Europe in a history about trade routes that didn’t include Europe for quite a while is suspicious and yet this is a much better perspective than A PEOPLES HISTORY OF THE WORLD which couldn’t get out of Europe no matter how hard it tried. I think the most impressive section is the one covering the 20th century where the author manages to weave together a number of various disasters caused mostly by the British, Russians, and Americans (as well as Iran and Iraq with the help of said Europeans). I felt that the absence of China in various points was odd since it was Chinese silk that named these roads but overall this was a fascinating read. I followed this up with DESTINY DISRUPTED which is a history of the world from the perspective of Islam. That gave some great perspective to this book and is recommended for anyone who read SILK ROADS.

I don’t know how you enjoy reading your books, but unlike the page-turners that can’t be put down, if a book grabs my attention, I tend to slow down my pace to absorb as much as possible of the full meaning that the author intends to impart. At 10% this book had me hooked. The realisation of how our present way of life is just a continuation of societal systems, laws and principles that were devised, implemented and set down centuries ago was a real eye opener. I am now at around 60% and continue to be enthralled at how heavily the historical background impacts on almost every important current event and crisis that we encounter today and how different the impressions and mental pictures that emerge from the book are to those portrayed and imparted by our media. If you are interested in why the world is what it is today, you cannot get a better more interesting precis of what events caused us to reach the state of current global development and you will better understand (but not justify) the unrest in which we live. Staring from Roman days BC, the first 16 chapters (aprox 40% of the book) take you on an evolutionary trip through the major events, century by century, giving a foundation on how and why events of exploitation and slavery evolved as they did. From Chapter 17 the author brings you into the 20th Century and shows how major political self-serving manipulations and greed have resulted in the unavoidable conflicts of wars and aggression throughout the history of the East and the West. The reader cannot help but link the global terrorist activities and the peaceful invasion of Europe that we are witnessing to a resurgence of tactics and methods used throughout history to justify reaction against perceived sins that the West committed or imposed on weaker nations, which they "colonised" then simply took (or stole) their mineral, human and oil resources with no regard to the consequences on the local population and with little respect, pay-back or recompense (other than selective and ridiculous bribing of officials) to the masses of humans that they exploited, betrayed and decimated over centuries. From the outset, the author explains why he elected to use the historical names of the people and places he describes and this becomes distracting to the reader who eventually loses track of exactly who or where the event occurs because (except for a few cases) he does not give the up-to-date name of the location or person, despite his giving the actual source references on which he bases his commentary. However, as the text gives the general location and position of an individual, readers can ignore the foreign nomenclatures and read on. This does not detracted from the text and information imparted. The writing style flows well and is easy to read and follow. I’m looking forward to the remainder of this enjoyable journey.

“The Silk Roads” is a wonderful invigorating work of history. It is directed to the general reader rather than the specialist. I found it be absolutely riveting. The essence of the book is that, in the West, our history is viewed through a very narrow lense. Schools teach its students of the Roman Empire, the subsequent Dark Ages, the Norman conquest in 1066, Henry VIII and the Tudors, the American War of Independence, the Industrial Revolution and the First and Second World Wars. The vast bulk of a map of the world from western Europe to China is passed over very quickly. With “The Silk Roads”, Peter Frankopan has attempted to redress this imbalance. As the author states: “For centuries before the early modern era, the intellectual centres of excellence of the world, the Oxfords ad Cambridges, the Harvards and Yales, were not located in Europe or the west, but in Baghdad, and Balkh, Bukhara and Samarkand”. Moreover, Frankopan gives the reader a perspective on the rise of Mesopotamia, Alexander the Great, the rise of Christianity in the eastern Roman Empire and then the subsequent rise of Islam throughout much of Asia. He then proceeds to discuss the Crusades, the rise of Genghis Khan and his mighty Mongol Empire and then the rise of China more specifically. He concludes by bringing the book up to the present day with the rise of Europe and the USA before suggesting that there is a reorienting of history underway again. In other words: “we are witnessing…the birthing pains of a region that once dominated the intellectual, cultural and economic landscape and which is now re-emerging. We are seeing the signs of the world’s centre of gravity shifting – back to where it lay for millennia”. Whether you agree or not with Peter Frankopan’s conclusions, the book remains a tour-de-force. Thoroughly recommended.

Great Book if you are into History I think you will enjoy it

Having traveled -- though a brief journey -- along the Silk Roads myself, this book brings me back traveling. It has brought me into a deeper understanding about the places I visited and the things I saw. There were things I had seen but only understood after reading this book. "The Silk Roads" also drew my curiosity towards other history books, and intrigued me about the great empires of the past which previously I had little interest. I enjoy the way things are written. I would like to describe this book as a thick cheesecake garnished with a sense of humor. It's for me, not a book I'm able to read continuously until last page. Interesting, enjoyable, yes. Yet, I need time to digest between pages. Then after reading other books, I continue or even return to the pages already read, and then obtain better understanding. Since I bought this book as Kindle version, I just wished I could view the details of the maps more conveniently and freely. Did I regret buying this book? Absolutely not. Do I recommend this book? Absolutely yes.

Frankopan corrects the Euro-centric version of world history I was taught in school. He does this by focusing attention on the many crossroads between East and West in what we call the "Middle East." It is a multi-millennia survey from the earliest records to the latest terrorist attacks. Frankopan uses the term "Silk Roads" as a metaphor for global trade, this is not just the two routes around the Taklamakan Desert. (For that see the fine-grained history by Valerie Hansen, who has scoured all surviving manuscripts from that desert.) Frankopan is a specialist in Byzantine history so that part of the story is especially strong on research and well written (and in his telling the Crusaders are still crazy), but the rest of the history is also eye-opening. Historically speaking Merv is the mother of the world. Where is Merv? And the Sogdians pretty much invented global capitalism. The Who? The Great Game is covered in expert detail, similar to the story in Daniel Yergin's book "The Prize." And World War I suddenly makes sense, terrible sense. One of the few heroes is the American ambassador Loy Henderson, whose chess skills predicted the Hitler Stalin pact, when most Americans wanted to be friends with the Soviets. And World War II reads very differently when you tell it from the standpoint of food supplies for the armies and displaced populations and fuel supplies for the war machine. A place called Maikop is key. Who knew? The events leading up to the Holocaust read differently when seen from the Middle East. The book's ending is heartbreaking as Americans do not come out of this story especially well. While we Americans were focusing on Monica Lewinsky, the center of power in the world was shifting to what we call "the East." (For me in California, "the Far East" is really the "Near West.") American policy is seen as addressing individual events without thinking through the consequences. Each short-sighted policy sets the stage for a new disaster. Bin Laden cites the Crusades of a thousand years ago as he foments a revolution that still has not played itself out. We need a better sense of where these forces all came from, and we need to think several moves ahead when we formulate policy. We need to keep close at hand both a history book and a chess board.

What a superb job Frankopan does - not only in laying out a broad-brush world history that pulls to together so many threads usually kept separate, but also to shift the reader's perspective: we in the West are on the margins of a global stage, crucial players to be sure, but no longer the emerging stars. This is a history, in the sense that it shows how the world has changed over time, although necessarily its ambitious scope means that any one topic is not treated in great depth. Rather, it deals with the interplay of influences over time, and illustrates compellingly how regions under the author's wide "Silk Roads" umbrella have been, remain and will continue to be crucial to actions and events across the globe. That is humbling to a reader brought up to the glories of the British Empire and the self-evident supremacy of Western Europe and North America in the wake of WWII. The whole book is a pleasure to read, with many new insights and perspectives for anyone not familiar with the intricacies of power shifts at a global level. The conclusion in particular - building on the story developed over 25 chapter - shows us a new reality to which we would do well to pay attention.

It is very informative and very well written. I would highly recommend as not only do you get a good history lesson but written in a way you can enjoy.

This is an epic book with an epic theme: the fascinating history of the cultures of the Silk Roads from ancient to modern times. Really, it's a history of the world, as it takes in events in the Americas and Africa as well. The point is well made that a Euro-centric view of the world leaves out the people and places of the utmost importance. Just one example: there were far more Christians in Asia than Europe for centuries. Author Peter Francopan delivers scholarly insight in a very readable style. His review of Western (read US) perfidy towards Islamic countries in our era aids our understanding of terrorism. He concludes by pointing out the rich renewal of the Silk Roads thanks to massive energy finds, and predicts that the centre of world power will shift back to this region. A must-read for all of us. Very enlightening.

Brilliant book, good read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5) „The Silk Roads“ – Weltgeschichte neu erzählt, vom Rand ins Zentrum 📌 Kurzfazit Frankopan rückt nicht Europa, sondern die Handels- und Kulturverbindungen entlang der Seidenstraßen ins Zentrum der Weltgeschichte. Von der Antike über das Mittelalter bis zur Moderne zeigt er, wie Zentralasien, Persien, China und der Nahe Osten entscheidend für Politik, Religion, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft waren. Damit bricht er mit der klassischen westlichen Erzählung und eröffnet neue Perspektiven. 📚 Inhalt in Kürze Antike Seidenstraßen als Drehscheibe von Waren, Ideen und Religionen. Rolle des Nahen Ostens und Zentralasiens bei der Entwicklung von Weltreligionen und Wissenschaft. Bedeutung des Handels für Machtverschiebungen (von Persien über das Osmanische Reich bis Kolonialismus). Moderne „Silk Roads“: Öl, Geopolitik, neue Handelsnetzwerke (China, Russland, Naher Osten). 🔬 Wissenschaftliche Relevanz Stärken: Umfassend recherchiert, mit riesiger Quellenbasis. Greift aktuelle historiographische Trends auf: Dekolonialisierung der Geschichte, Globalgeschichte. Bietet interdisziplinäre Perspektiven (Politik, Religion, Wirtschaft, Kultur). Schwächen: Kritiker bemängeln, dass Frankopan teils zu stark vereinfacht oder dramatisiert. Einige Kapitel wirken essayistisch und weniger tief als akademische Spezialliteratur. 👉 Fazit Wissenschaft: Ein bedeutendes Werk der Globalgeschichte, das Forschungspfade populär zugänglich macht. 🌍 Kulturelle Relevanz Internationaler Bestseller, in über 30 Sprachen übersetzt. Hat die Seidenstraßen als Metapher für Globalisierung wieder populär gemacht. Politisch-kulturell aktuell, da China mit der „Belt and Road Initiative“ erneut auf die Seidenstraße Bezug nimmt. Stärker in der Öffentlichkeit rezipiert als in rein akademischen Kreisen – ein Brückenbuch zwischen Wissenschaft und Allgemeinheit. 💭 Meine persönliche Meinung 👍 Positiv: Spannend erzählt, horizonterweiternd, macht neugierig auf Regionen, die in klassischen Geschichtsbüchern oft fehlen. 👎 Negativ: An manchen Stellen spürt man die populärwissenschaftliche Zuspitzung; Leser:innen mit historischem Fachwissen wünschen sich mehr Tiefgang. Für mich: ein must-read, wenn man Weltgeschichte neu denken möchte. 🎯 Fazit The Silk Roads ist ein brillantes Werk der Globalgeschichte, das eurozentrische Narrative hinterfragt und die Seidenstraßen ins Zentrum der Menschheitsgeschichte rückt. Wissenschaftlich solide, kulturell relevant und spannend zu lesen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 5 von 5 Sternen Weil: wissenschaftlich stark, kulturell hochaktuell, erzählerisch fesselnd.

Frankopan sets out to explore the ancient trading corridor, the silk road, not as a straight history but more as an analysis of the region's impact on the world. His purpose is to move beyond the standard inevitability of the rise of the west, you know, Greece-Rome-Christian Europe-Renaissance-Enlightenment-Democracy-Industrial Revolution. While the result is uneven, the book focuses in on what was at stake in each period and what it led to in a longitudinal perspective of exceptional value. It is also a riveting read, full of surprising details even for history buffs. The first quarter of the book is about the rise of various monotheisms that came to serve as the ideological underpinnings of several empires, as chosen by shrewd, perhaps cynical, leaders. However sincere the messianic founders must have been, Christianity was adopted by Constantine as a tool sustain his position as emperor; the same was true for Muslims, Zoroastrians, and others. It was a particular political context, at the end of the classical era, when military authoritarianism of vast empires decisively replaced the more chaotic city-states systems that were loosely polytheistic. Soon thereafter, the Islamic Empire was ascendant: open, eclectic, supremely confident, and militarily unstoppable. With the west fragmented and in decline, Russia and Scandinavia became most important as a source of slaves and furs, in particular to the Abassids. While there remained some export of spices and silk to Western Europe, this would grow later to huge proportions. Frankopan takes us through the Crusades, Mongol invasions, and Ottoman Empire, when the balances begin to shift back in favor of Europe. Once the Americas and new routes to the East are discovered, trade action turns away from the ancient silk road, eclipsing the region as the military balance shifts with the new technologies and techniques invested in the west. The region then becomes a place to exploit in the era of colonialism and industrialization. However, once the need for oil is recognized, Frankopan argues that it was only a matter of time before the producing countries begin to take control of their natural resources, though not after a terrible period of exploitation at the hands of the British and then the Americans, creating a legacy of distrust and bitterness that the Soviets attempt to exploit during the Cold War. Unfortunately, the region enters a terrible period of turmoil, ranging from religious ideologies to political ambitions. Nonetheless, with the industrialization of much of East Asia, there is new focus on the silk road connections, which are proliferating into vast new trading networks today. It is at this point that Frankopan makes his case that in spite of the instability and uncertainty, the balance is shifting away from the west and towards Asia. This will result, he asserts, in an entirely different historical narrative, one far away from the panglossian version of reality we indulge in in the west. This is compelling and frightening, if not yet completely convincing. Perhaps the era of western domination is ending, it is impossible to tell. Dense and beautifully written, this is a wonderful historical tour that comes with an original argument. With its unique point of view, I learned a great deal about the reasons for the Middle East upheavals and blood feuds. Recommended with enthusiasm and caution.