The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

One of the most underrated aspects of World History comes to life through the author's research and analysis. I have ordered the book for a series of lectures in my school but now I faĺl in love with the writer.

One of the best explained book on various silk roads of ancient India and the world . In depth knowledge of the most advanced trade route that flourished many ancient empires of India and the world like the Kushanas

In around 1340 AD, a Mongol army laid siege to a fort in Caffa, modern day Crimea. Soon the Mongol army was annihilated not by the enemy but by an unknown illness that killed thousands of its soldiers. As Mongols retreated, they ordered that corpses be catapulted into the city, hoping to overwhelm the city with the smell of decaying bodies. Little did they realize that they had become first army to use biological weapons. Soon, Caffa, a Genoese - modern day Italy- trading post in Central Asia was infected with Plague. The Genoese traders and merchants in Caffa returned to Genoa, Sicily, and Venice, not only with the trade from Asia, but also with the devastating infection. Black death had arrived. In next few years almost one third of Europe’s population (~ 2.5 Crore people) will die from this deadly infection . Anecdotes like these make The Silk Roads - A New History of World an interesting book to read for a casual reader like me. Author Peter Frankopan intends to write the history of the world as seen from the east. The expanse of the book is ambitious to say the least. It starts with Alexander and ends with junior Bush. Peter Frankopan looks at almost all (!) the major events and empires of last 2500 years and tries to weave a coherent story using threads of Silk Roads. It is fascinating to read how this trade route between China and Mediterranean has been singularly instrumental in shaping the contours of History. The essence of the book is that the history of world is the history of control of Silk Routes. One of the constant themes of the book is to challenge East versus West binary. It is sometime easy to forget that seat of Roman empire for almost 1000 years was not Rome but further east in Istanbul (Constantinople). Similarly it is almost impossible to view Christianity as another eastern religion. In one the more fascinating chapters, Peter Frankopan takes us through the early rise of Christianity in Persia and Central Asia. It is interesting to see how Christianity borrowed heavily from Buddhism which was dominant religion in what is today Afghanistan and Central Asia. It is the quirk of history that early Romans saw east including India as morally corrupting culture. Who would think that it was Asia who taught Italians to drink, make love and appreciate art ! Another recurring theme is Globalization. World was flat long before Nandan Nilekani coined that term and Thomas Friedman wrote his best seller. In 2nd century AD, about 50% of total minted money from Rome found its way to Asia (largely India). One of the key trading ports then was Barygaza, also known to us as Bharuch. Flourishing trade on this route also meant that may towns rose to become great urban centres of their times. One such city was Palmyra , whose ruins were recently destroyed by ISIS. Trade fairs in Palmyra would attract thousands of traders from faraway places like India and China. Imagine merchants travelling thousands of treacherous miles on foot, and sea ! To cater to such a large flux of traders many new cities came up along the silk routes. One such city in 9th century was Baghdad. At its peak it was the richest and most populous city of the world. One of the earliest Mega cities. Few other cities that sprung up during this time were Basra, known for its market, and Mosul known for the finest public baths. Sadly all are synonymous with death and destruction today. Much further down the timeline, in the 18th century , there is another interesting story which challenges the belief that globalization is a modern day phenomenon. In 1757, with Robert Clive’s conquest of Bengal, the centre of gravity of world power had firmly moved to Britain. Robert Clive became the Dewan of Bengal. With Dewani came the power to tax Bengal, one of the richest parts of the World. Bengal was the centre of booming textile industry which made India the proverbial sone ki chidiya. Robert Clive went on to kill the golden goose. Quite literally. Exorbitant taxes were imposed. Food prices skyrocketed leading to the infamous Bengal famine. Millions of Indians died (rather killed). Robert Clive became the richest man on earth. But over a short period of time an entire industry was destroyed. Revenues from Bengal dropped and East India company was on the verge of Bankruptcy. The shocks were felt across the Pacific. To make up for the losses in Bengal, the British Empire passed Tea Act in America. This triggered a fury among the local population in America and eventually led to American revolution. The world has been interconnected much longer than we sometime imagine ! Sadly, Silk Routes is not only the story of prosperity, wealth, and great cities. Wealth has come (and gone) at a great price. Silk routes are drenched with blood from relentless wars. Empires have come and gone, their banners have changed colors , they have come on horses, camels , tanks and F16s, but threads of Silk Routes have always been tangled. Year was 627 AD, Persian army had taken over Palestine and Syria after a decade long war. Romans barely held control of their last fortress, the Constantinople. In a remarkable turnaround Romans with the help of nomadic Turks crushed the large Persian army in the modern day Iraq. Almost 1400 years later , a war is still being fought on precisely the same plains between almost the same empires. Amazing.

Its the grand theatre where civilisations dawned, kingdoms rose and empires were made and broke. Its been the crucible for the creation of law, of religions and philosophies alike. And it had satiated the appetite for silk and pepper, for spices and minerals, for metals and fur, for slaves and oil. It had unleashed hell and bought in solace as well. The Silk Route also decided who controlled the world - from Persians to the Mongols, to the Spanish and Portuguese to Dutch later on and then the English to US. Of particular interest is the in-depth analysis of how Britain and US had created their policies to retain a stranglehold of this carotid artery of a route; Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Lebanon, Afghanistan - all results of a dangerous game to ally with or against the powers of US, UK and Russia. Their selective silence at times of their convenience, their dramatic expression at times when their interests where at stake - it all makes one wonder what civilisation and culture was all about. Even today there is much drama on this large highway; Kiev is in distress, China wrangles the worlds neck with its belt and Road Initiative, Sri Lanka is in turmoil, and Pakistan is headed for distress. Peter Frankopan’s exceptional narrative makes this 600 page of a book as exciting as a murder mystery. Ok - the last 100 pages makes the bibliography, and its a pretty detailed one. And to think that the author himself, a Croatian prince, settled in England and working in Oxford has written this book, is an irony by itself!

The quality is awesome.

Doctor Shilpa Bhandari Doctor CHINTAMANI DEORAM MAHAJAN RAVINDRA MURAR PATIL MD PATHOLOGY NO ONE IS GOOD ENOUGH

Good packaging and yet to read the book

Extremely ambitious attempt to tell the history of the world from antiquity through the eyes of the region extending from Central Asia to the Middle East, which Frankopan argues is the centre of the Silk Routes as it connects the east with the west. Extremely judiciously written with an eye for details, it is one of the most interesting history books I have read till now. Though I would have preferred if the author had focused more on the pre-modern period as slightly less than half the book is devoted to the last two centuries. Otherwise this is a prime example of macro-history at its best.

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.

Lots of detail going back to beginnings of recorded history. I can't remember all the details but it's a pleasure to read them all. It focuses a lot on the world east of Western Europe, something we don't learn about in school. For much of history Western Europe was a backwater while the real action happened in the Middle East and Asia. Carries right on to modern times and provides a powerful new perspective that has opened my eyes. For one thing, the author carefully outlines how both world wars were driven by the great powers' desire to control the flow of oil. Makes our Western Europe-centred view seem so inadequate.