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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
disclaimer that i haven’t read the first book, so don’t know if my critiques would have been more addressed in the first one; and i felt by the end i was desperate to finish so was skimming and not taking it all in
writing was honeslty quite dry, i dont love allll the naming of every person and initiative and the ‘half quote, name and initiative, end half quote’ style of sentences. however, enjoyed the first 1-1.5 sections, where there was most of the discussion about central asia and the silk roads. how the different geographies/resources and histories all affect geopolitics and trade in region and beyond.
the last bits was sooooo USA focused and then lots on China and a bit on Russia. it was very negative and more so simplistic narrative of china and russia = bad, which is boring and lazy. only at the very end did he critique these assumptions and only about china - which like why wait til then and doesn’t really make much difference. overall wayyyy too much about the usa - whilst i get they are a big geopolitical player, if i wanted to read about usa neo-colonialism and domination, i would!!! elsewhere!! i wanted to read about the silk roads and the usa was mentioned more than any other country. side note wilddd how much of trump term 2, is an albeit extended/amped up, repeat of term 1 - huge yikes
i don’t have much else to say which makes it seem like i hated the book, i didn’t, but i’ve said before i need to steer away from recent geopolitics books written by white men and yea i need to follow that more!
writing was honeslty quite dry, i dont love allll the naming of every person and initiative and the ‘half quote, name and initiative, end half quote’ style of sentences. however, enjoyed the first 1-1.5 sections, where there was most of the discussion about central asia and the silk roads. how the different geographies/resources and histories all affect geopolitics and trade in region and beyond.
the last bits was sooooo USA focused and then lots on China and a bit on Russia. it was very negative and more so simplistic narrative of china and russia = bad, which is boring and lazy. only at the very end did he critique these assumptions and only about china - which like why wait til then and doesn’t really make much difference. overall wayyyy too much about the usa - whilst i get they are a big geopolitical player, if i wanted to read about usa neo-colonialism and domination, i would!!! elsewhere!! i wanted to read about the silk roads and the usa was mentioned more than any other country. side note wilddd how much of trump term 2, is an albeit extended/amped up, repeat of term 1 - huge yikes
i don’t have much else to say which makes it seem like i hated the book, i didn’t, but i’ve said before i need to steer away from recent geopolitics books written by white men and yea i need to follow that more!
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
challenging
informative
fast-paced
Another one in the "White man discovers there were empires outside of Europe before the colonial period."
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This history refreshed my memory of some of the major events leading to the modern era. Who controls the precious resources of the age are the civilizations that control the world. The Middle East and the Caucasus region are frequently at the heart of the action.
I think it was a good book that helped me understand more about what the neuralgic center of the world were (and maybe will be?). The story is quite interesting and well written, but the last chapters regarding the second half of the XIX century onwards, the details and nitty-gritty overcome the main narrative, making it kind of dull and hard to read (honestly I skipped the last chapters).
It still feels a super euro-centric book, where everything is about what europe is going to become: There is little description of China for example, and Africa and the Americas (especially South America) are mentioned barely as a source of goods (how you would talk about your cabinet with baking goods[*]). Even the comments about Asia feels in many passages as things that happen _regarding_ europe, so it's kind of a bummer.
Regardless of all that, I think it is an interesting book that helps to have a perspective of how the world has developed based on commerce.
[*] The US may have been mentioned in the final chapters a lot, but I skipped them because they were kind of boring.
It still feels a super euro-centric book, where everything is about what europe is going to become: There is little description of China for example, and Africa and the Americas (especially South America) are mentioned barely as a source of goods (how you would talk about your cabinet with baking goods[*]). Even the comments about Asia feels in many passages as things that happen _regarding_ europe, so it's kind of a bummer.
Regardless of all that, I think it is an interesting book that helps to have a perspective of how the world has developed based on commerce.
[*] The US may have been mentioned in the final chapters a lot, but I skipped them because they were kind of boring.