The Silk Roads

By Peter Frankopan

The Silk Roads - Peter Frankopan
  • Release Date: 2016-02-16
  • Genre: World History
Score: 4
4
From 136 Ratings

Description

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next.

"A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world.” —The Wall Street Journal

From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. Frankopan teaches us that to understand what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, we must first understand their astounding pasts.
 
Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century—this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.

Also available: The New Silk Roads, a timely exploration of the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now—as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East.

Reviews

  • Excellent new history of the World

    5
    By drrjv
    Must read book for all of us. Read about the development of trade and politics from time before Christ and into the present. 20/20 hindsight of the successes and errors of powerful countries over the centuries. Definitely worthy of your time to help understand our times!
  • Intriguing

    5
    By Timdoodles
    I enjoyed
  • It's a huge big block of History

    4
    By sXio
    If you wonder why we hate History lesson when we were young it was because it was incomplete or not fully explained. Nevertheless i found a few chapter at the end of the book to be a little bit too hard to digest. You tell me.