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lightningsews's Reviews (423)
The first half was going so well- it centered on Central Asia and was actually teaching me new things, while also bringing in European actions that are well known in the United States curriculum, at least. However, when the European Age of Exploration began in the book, we were no longer taking a close look at Central Asia and slowly stopped hearing what these various nations did or felt in response to the sudden expansion of European powers. It was annoying, but it made sense because this age did cause a complete change to global trade even though I already knew all this. Then, the events leading up to and surrounding WWI began. Nothing was new to me. Everything was about English and Russian bickering and backstabbing each other and everyone around them. What did India feel about what the English thought was a threat to their control of the subcontinent? What were Persian officials saying about this bickering going on in their eastern front? I don’t know; it was never shared. I stopped once it became clear that the rest of the book, while looking at events in Central Asia more closely than events in Europe, the Americas, Eastern Asia, or Africa, would just follow a European power POV. EXTREMELY disappointing.
Another major disappointment is that the book is called “The Silk Roads” and while it is a history of the world, for the first half of the book told history through the lens of trade. The entire chapters “The Road to Crisis” and “The Road to War” just focus on the bickering I mentioned above. The next chapter touts that it will be a history of the start of oil trade, as it’s called “The Road of Black Gold” but surprise! It’s more British paranoia with the start of the oil trade glazed over in a meager 29 page chapter with a half page dedicated to a map (the war chapters took up 40). If this book focused on the history of the world through trade in Central Asia to the rest of the Eurasia/ Africa landmass- that started before the Silk Road- it would actually be a book ‘that makes you question your assumptions about the world’ as the Wall Street Journal claimed.
Another major disappointment is that the book is called “The Silk Roads” and while it is a history of the world, for the first half of the book told history through the lens of trade. The entire chapters “The Road to Crisis” and “The Road to War” just focus on the bickering I mentioned above. The next chapter touts that it will be a history of the start of oil trade, as it’s called “The Road of Black Gold” but surprise! It’s more British paranoia with the start of the oil trade glazed over in a meager 29 page chapter with a half page dedicated to a map (the war chapters took up 40). If this book focused on the history of the world through trade in Central Asia to the rest of the Eurasia/ Africa landmass- that started before the Silk Road- it would actually be a book ‘that makes you question your assumptions about the world’ as the Wall Street Journal claimed.