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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Comprehensive re-view, well researched and documented. Scary.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
So...pretty much we created our own shitstorm in the middle east. Super. At least the British were open about being totally self-serving and greedy when they effed it all up earlier in the 20th century.
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.
It took me a lot to read it, one chapter a day sometimes, but it was worthy. The chronological history of the world from another point of view: not only the silk roads, but the wheat roads, the oil roads and so on. Brilliant.
Ci ho messo parecchio a leggerlo, spesso un capitolo al giorno e non andavo oltre, ma ne é valsa la pena. La storia in ordine cronologico, ma da un altro punto di vista: non solo le vie della seta, ma anche quelle del grano, del petrolio e cosí via. Ben fatto.
Ci ho messo parecchio a leggerlo, spesso un capitolo al giorno e non andavo oltre, ma ne é valsa la pena. La storia in ordine cronologico, ma da un altro punto di vista: non solo le vie della seta, ma anche quelle del grano, del petrolio e cosí via. Ben fatto.
4.75
An extremely well researched but defintely not "dry" history of the Silk Roads. I am definitely a happy camper.
Need time to gather my thoughts and refer to my notes for a better and cohesivereview reaction...
An extremely well researched but defintely not "dry" history of the Silk Roads. I am definitely a happy camper.
Need time to gather my thoughts and refer to my notes for a better and cohesive
This book felt like a journey. It doesn't offer may details and I would not call it a book from which to learn history, but one that describes a view/perspective to the history of the world and the silk roads areas.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I picked this up at Costco for about $12 (plus tax); really, quite an excellent history of the world from the perspective of the ancient Eurasian "silk road" belt that links East and West. Worth the read, even if you know the history, because of the interesting perspective.