The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

The Silk Roads

by Peter Frankopan

The No. 1 Sunday Times and international bestseller - a major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging east

For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture - and is shaping the modern world.

This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again.

A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east.

Reviewed by wyvernfriend on

4 of 5 stars

Share
A different view of the world, taking a more oriental view of what happens in the world. Instead of the usual history of the world where the centre of attention is to Europe, this looks at the Middle East and Asia and looks at how, often they were as much or more influential than we were taught and badly served by current received history. It complains about how lots of history of these players on the world stage were ignored but ripples happened from many parts of empires, It's a useful for a reminder to reframe history to include more places but also a reminder that no matter what we do, we will still fail to see all the wood for the trees.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 December, 2015: Finished reading
  • 17 December, 2015: Reviewed