brughiera 's review for:

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

5.0

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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.