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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
8/10. Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads is a truly impressive "new history of the world" in that it effectively accomplishes its main objective: retelling world history with a focus on the heart of the Eurasian landmass, where East and West collide. This book does an excellent job carrying readers across thousands of miles and through thousands of years of history to make a compelling case for how globalization, cultural cross-pollination, and the tension between East and West have been the fulcrum of human history, economics, and geopolitics since the beginning.
The Silk Roads begins incredibly strong. The early chapters focus heavily on the movement of religion and philosophy between East and West, and highlights of these chapters included a concise explanation of the rise of the world's great religions, the way Greek and Buddhist philosophy mingled in the ancient world, and the way in which religion played heavily in medieval politics, economics, and warfare in Europe and the Middle East during the Islamic conquests and the Crusades.
The book then transitions to having a more overt focus on trade and economics as it enters the period of European colonization and exploration. While European settlement of the Americas is well-covered ground, Frankopan offers fresh emphasis on how the the initial voyages and subsequent extraction of resources such as silver and gold were heavily motivated by European nation states' interests in the East. This thread is carried throughout the remainder of the book in Frankopan's discussions of the discovery of oil in the Middle East, the World Wars, and the Cold War. All the familiar beats are there, but are repackaged through the lens of viewing world history as a constant imperial tug of war over the strategic resources and lands of the silk roads. Finally, it is worth noting that this book went above and beyond in its explanation of the creation of the modern Middle East, from the Iranian Revolution to the Taliban in Afghanistan. This means that the book ends up having a much greater focus on the twentieth century than readers may expect based on the synopsis.
One critique of this book is that I was hoping for more coverage of China and India. While I understand Frankopan's emphasis was on covering the space between East and West, the space given to these two great Asian civilizations is significantly less than the space given to the role of Europeans and Americans in the history of the Middle East and Central Asia. I would also note that despite this book's already thick spine, I would have enjoyed more maps throughout the book (minimum one per chapter), particularly because Frankopan is zooming in and out of an immense area as it changes over time.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to readers looking for a crash course in many of world history's greatest hits (world religions, the Greeks and Romans, the Crusades, the Mongols, the Age of Exploration, the World Wars, the Iranian Revolution, American foreign policy in the Middle East) but who are open to viewing events and motivations from a different angle than they may be used to. I really wish I had annotated my copy of this book because there were so many great excerpts and facts that I will not possibly remember them all. I look forward to reading more of Frankopan's work in the future.
The Silk Roads begins incredibly strong. The early chapters focus heavily on the movement of religion and philosophy between East and West, and highlights of these chapters included a concise explanation of the rise of the world's great religions, the way Greek and Buddhist philosophy mingled in the ancient world, and the way in which religion played heavily in medieval politics, economics, and warfare in Europe and the Middle East during the Islamic conquests and the Crusades.
The book then transitions to having a more overt focus on trade and economics as it enters the period of European colonization and exploration. While European settlement of the Americas is well-covered ground, Frankopan offers fresh emphasis on how the the initial voyages and subsequent extraction of resources such as silver and gold were heavily motivated by European nation states' interests in the East. This thread is carried throughout the remainder of the book in Frankopan's discussions of the discovery of oil in the Middle East, the World Wars, and the Cold War. All the familiar beats are there, but are repackaged through the lens of viewing world history as a constant imperial tug of war over the strategic resources and lands of the silk roads. Finally, it is worth noting that this book went above and beyond in its explanation of the creation of the modern Middle East, from the Iranian Revolution to the Taliban in Afghanistan. This means that the book ends up having a much greater focus on the twentieth century than readers may expect based on the synopsis.
One critique of this book is that I was hoping for more coverage of China and India. While I understand Frankopan's emphasis was on covering the space between East and West, the space given to these two great Asian civilizations is significantly less than the space given to the role of Europeans and Americans in the history of the Middle East and Central Asia. I would also note that despite this book's already thick spine, I would have enjoyed more maps throughout the book (minimum one per chapter), particularly because Frankopan is zooming in and out of an immense area as it changes over time.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to readers looking for a crash course in many of world history's greatest hits (world religions, the Greeks and Romans, the Crusades, the Mongols, the Age of Exploration, the World Wars, the Iranian Revolution, American foreign policy in the Middle East) but who are open to viewing events and motivations from a different angle than they may be used to. I really wish I had annotated my copy of this book because there were so many great excerpts and facts that I will not possibly remember them all. I look forward to reading more of Frankopan's work in the future.
Very long book, all about men fighting for money and power (what’s new!). The first half emphasised that religion is based on lies to control people, the second half exposed just how dark British and American history is and that what we are taught in school really is totally biased and those in power have so much blood on their hands. So… a nice chilled, positive read!
I chose to get and read this book as, like the author, I have always been interested in different perspectives and certainly felt that the history I have been fed to date is very western-oriented. Frankopan definitely delivers on his promise to cast another light on world history. His focus on the silk roads and the Central Asia and Middle East region which dominates these provides insights that were new to me. Starting from a period when Western Europe was a barbaric irrelevance and North America undiscovered, Frankopan explores a wealth of silk roads in roughly chronological order. Given the title, I had expected this book to focus on relatively ancient history but that was only the beginning. The importance of trade and commerce to early globalization is amply demonstrated, continuing between the Islamic and Christian world even at the peak of religious conflict under the Crusades. Commerce was also behind the discoveries of new sea routes which contributed so much to the wealth of Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Following the discovery of the Americas and the route to the East via the Cape of Good Hope, Britain benefitted from its position in the centre of the new world and adroitly exploited this through its efficient maritime force. In more modern times black gold is shown to underlie the less than dignified scrabble for influence at the heart of the silk roads. Neither Britain nor the US is shown in a flattering light. Frankopan ends with the birth of the new silk road with the rapid development of railways and pipelines from China to Europe across Central Asia and the new found wealth of the countries in the latter region. The recent visit of the Chinese President to Iran and Saudi Arabia, following China's agreement to form a strategic partnership with Iraq late last year, only serves to confirm Frankopan's thesis on the importance of the new silk road.
This book is a timely reminder of why and how the world is transitioning to a new order where, once again, Europe is likely to find itself on the periphery.
This book is a timely reminder of why and how the world is transitioning to a new order where, once again, Europe is likely to find itself on the periphery.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Longer than it needed to be, but provides an interesting perspective on the world. Impressive in the expansiveness of time scale.
What a fabulous interpretation of history. A book that is vast in scope and nothing less than a history of the of the world from earliest civilization to the present. At times I began to think that we were wandering pretty far afield from the Silk Road but Mr. Frankopan always brought the narrative back to the impact on or the effects arising from the region. Entertaining, informative and a marvelous story. Everything history should be.
A danged ol' masterpiece!
A danged ol' masterpiece!
informative
inspiring
reflective
So this one is really partly Colin Thubron’s fault. I loved his shadow of the Silk Road, and as I’m also currently listening to the Ancient World podcast (see here) which was delving into the East at the time when I saw this in Foyles, I immediately bought it (along with a few others). Then when picking what to read next, I kept coming back to it until I just plunged in.
This is a brilliant brilliant book, I absolutely loved it. An attempt to write (rewrit?) perhaps a more comprehensive history of the world, or certainly the Eurasian world, Frankopan ties as much together as he can in a rough chronological order, as West and East met through early travel but more importantly through trade. Along with the thrust of time and place, I really enjoyed little footnotes of history, such as Buddha statues coming about because of the introduction of statues of Apollo following the conquest by Alexander the Great, as well as the resonances with the contemporary world:
It was unlikely that places like Britain would provide lucrative additions to Rome’s territories: as slate letters sent home by soldiers stationed in Britain attest, this province was a byword for grim and fruitless isolation.
Much like it is now. Is something that could have easily been tacked onto the end of that sentence
The history is backed up by hundreds if not a few thousand references. Indeed spending a chapter on the introduction of Islam into the world, Frankopan points out just how hard it is to confirm some of it’s initial elements from the contemporary sources. From the index, he certainly hasn’t scrimped on searching.
Showing how early slavers from the Nordic countries swept down deep into central Asia, to the all conquering Mongol empire, this part of the world was the crossroads, the resource rich gateway to the mysterious orient as well as to the emerging west. From the decimation of populations due to the black plague, which levelled the field more between serf and landlord in the north of Europe than it did in the south, the pendulum of wealth and power slowly shifted from the opulent and decadent east to the less developed west, where it was to stay for quite some time. Countries like Spain, Portugal, England and Holland drove expansion and exploration, partly to cut the cost of their insatiable appetite for goods from the east, and partly for profit, sometimes flimsily disguised as a religious and righteous crusade for God and the church, and the discovery of the Americas literally placed Europe at the centre of the world. Their circumnavigation of the globe to reach India effectively cut out what had previously been a crucial trading hub from it’s livelihood and power for a time, but what it lacked in trade it made up for in something even more valuable, oil, the fuel that powered the new world.
While I bought this for the ancient history, the history of the nineteenth and twentieth history was engaging, and makes for uncomfortable reading at some points. The West’s insatiable appetite for oil and fear of Russian influence generated short sighted and untenable policies, invasions and barely disguised attempts at maintaining power that wreaked havoc in much of Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq to name but a few. Given the recent attention to the Chilcot report in the news, reading about the flip-flopping of support for Saddam whilst trying to keep a grip on Iran was both arrogant and clumsy, and the results have been clearly visible for all to see.
More recently the emergence of the former Russian states, that are incredibly resource rich yet at the same time are plagued by Nepotism and abuses that are well publicised, are making the West sit up and pay attention, but hopefully in a slightly more cooperative way and in conclusion The Silk Roads indicates power returning to this historically rich and crucial part of the world.
Frankopan has written clearly and concisely, with even odd flashes of humour mixed in with the fascinating and detailed history of civilisations, countries and people. It’s been a while since I’ve been at school, but I learnt more from this book than I remember from years of history lessons in the classroom, and was much more enjoyable.
(blog review here)
This is a brilliant brilliant book, I absolutely loved it. An attempt to write (rewrit?) perhaps a more comprehensive history of the world, or certainly the Eurasian world, Frankopan ties as much together as he can in a rough chronological order, as West and East met through early travel but more importantly through trade. Along with the thrust of time and place, I really enjoyed little footnotes of history, such as Buddha statues coming about because of the introduction of statues of Apollo following the conquest by Alexander the Great, as well as the resonances with the contemporary world:
It was unlikely that places like Britain would provide lucrative additions to Rome’s territories: as slate letters sent home by soldiers stationed in Britain attest, this province was a byword for grim and fruitless isolation.
Much like it is now. Is something that could have easily been tacked onto the end of that sentence
The history is backed up by hundreds if not a few thousand references. Indeed spending a chapter on the introduction of Islam into the world, Frankopan points out just how hard it is to confirm some of it’s initial elements from the contemporary sources. From the index, he certainly hasn’t scrimped on searching.
Showing how early slavers from the Nordic countries swept down deep into central Asia, to the all conquering Mongol empire, this part of the world was the crossroads, the resource rich gateway to the mysterious orient as well as to the emerging west. From the decimation of populations due to the black plague, which levelled the field more between serf and landlord in the north of Europe than it did in the south, the pendulum of wealth and power slowly shifted from the opulent and decadent east to the less developed west, where it was to stay for quite some time. Countries like Spain, Portugal, England and Holland drove expansion and exploration, partly to cut the cost of their insatiable appetite for goods from the east, and partly for profit, sometimes flimsily disguised as a religious and righteous crusade for God and the church, and the discovery of the Americas literally placed Europe at the centre of the world. Their circumnavigation of the globe to reach India effectively cut out what had previously been a crucial trading hub from it’s livelihood and power for a time, but what it lacked in trade it made up for in something even more valuable, oil, the fuel that powered the new world.
While I bought this for the ancient history, the history of the nineteenth and twentieth history was engaging, and makes for uncomfortable reading at some points. The West’s insatiable appetite for oil and fear of Russian influence generated short sighted and untenable policies, invasions and barely disguised attempts at maintaining power that wreaked havoc in much of Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq to name but a few. Given the recent attention to the Chilcot report in the news, reading about the flip-flopping of support for Saddam whilst trying to keep a grip on Iran was both arrogant and clumsy, and the results have been clearly visible for all to see.
More recently the emergence of the former Russian states, that are incredibly resource rich yet at the same time are plagued by Nepotism and abuses that are well publicised, are making the West sit up and pay attention, but hopefully in a slightly more cooperative way and in conclusion The Silk Roads indicates power returning to this historically rich and crucial part of the world.
Frankopan has written clearly and concisely, with even odd flashes of humour mixed in with the fascinating and detailed history of civilisations, countries and people. It’s been a while since I’ve been at school, but I learnt more from this book than I remember from years of history lessons in the classroom, and was much more enjoyable.
(blog review here)
Love this, such a new perspective to looking at the world. Want to read more of this author.
The first half of the book is excellent and a five star book. I didn’t find the second half quite as good. It wasn’t as clear and it felt too Western centered given the book’s basis. It was discussing the Middle East but it seemed to lack the Middle Eastern point of view. It was still fascinating in places and a four star book.