The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Ratings41
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings41
Average rating4.2
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
Didn't finish. I couldn't see the forest for the trees. Too much detail and not enough context to be able to discern meaningful patterns in the story.
This new take on the history of the world has set my head spinning. What's that you say, Peter Frankopan? The Holocaust came about because...of what? Food shortages in Russia? What? And Germany wasn't the only burly aggressor in World War II? Huh? And the center of the world hasn't always been Europe? What?
If Peter Frankopan didn't have such sterling credentials, and if The Silk Roads hadn't been published by such an esteemed company as Knopf, I'd have set this book aside before I got very far into it. It's a revolutionary text, for me, and I must say that it has shifted all my thoughts of history on its axis, with the new equator squarely on the lands of the silk roads.
It has been suggested, for instance, that the Mahābhārata, the great early Sanskrit epic, owes a debt to the Iliad and to the Odyssey, with the theme of the abduction of Lady Sita by Rāvaa a direct echo of the elopement of Helen with Paris of Troy.
It is supposed to be Rāmāyana, not Mahābhārata. Mistakes like this, and that also in the first few pages made me skeptical about the quality of this book.
Beyond that, I found this book enlightening. Writing a history based on how businesses have been made (and related things like coercion and war) is a very refreshing read.
