A history of central eurasia from the bronze age to the present hardcover by. Laszlo gives an important lesson in the brutal and treacherous. It looks at world history from the perspective of the lands along the silk roads the trading routes which brought silk from china to europe, and gold and silver in the other direction. The name silk road comes from a historical network of trade routes started during the han dynasty 206 bc 220 ad between europe, india, china, and many other countries on the afroeurasian landmass. The reality was differentand far more interestingas revealed in this new history. Turfan homeland of the sogdians, the silk road traders. Its one of those books that remakes ones idea of history and, though occasionally too. Its one of very, very few books from any culture that takes global trade as a whole, without being biased. The silk roads, which covers several continents and many centuries. The wall street journal this provocative history challenges the view of the west as heir to a pure grecoroman culture. Peter frankopan doesnt mention mackinder, but this was the terrain he chronicled in his sweeping 2015 history the silk roads. The rise and fall of silk road, the dark webs amazon.
Christopher beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great central eurasian empires, including those of the scythians, attila the hun, the turks and tibetans, and genghis khan. For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west in. Paul salopeks 21,000mile journey on foot traces human migrations from east africa to patagonia. The early years of the silk road excellent presentation.
His declared intention in the silk roads is to shift the spotlight of world history away from its eurocentric focus to these earlier heartlands. Silk road came to its dead end on the afternoon of october 1, 20. Shadow of the silk road by colin thubron, the silk roads. The silk road was an ancient network of trade routes, formally established during the han dynasty of china, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between bce1453 ce. The best books on central asia and the silk road region.
Mar 07, 2017 far more than a history of the silk roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next. Trade was not the primary purpose of the silk road, more a network of pathways than a road, in its heyday. Silk road, ancient trade route, linking china with the west, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of rome and china. The silk road found a place in history because of its rich cultural legacy in written records and artifacts, and because trade and tolerance were so intertwined. From the middle east and its political instability to china and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the balkans across the steppe and. A new history of the world by peter frankopan, empires of the silk. In greek myth two eagles fly from opposite poles of the world until they meet. The silk roads of the title are the arteries along which people, goods, ideas. In the new silk roads, he offers an extended epilogue that argues. This audio lecture from chp china history podcast gives us an interesting view of the history of the silk road in ancient history. Far more than a history of the silk roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and.
Compiled by our contributors, a reading list for recreating the ancient trade route from the comfort of home. Today, most people travel the silk road in a land rover. A new history of the world is a counterblast to another ambitious book from an earlier generation, j. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including oxford university, michigan state university, and university of minnesota. May 11, 2019 peter frankopan doesnt mention mackinder, but this was the terrain he chronicled in his sweeping 2015 history the silk roads. Breathtaking and addictively readable history book of the year daily telegraph. It starts in northwest china, about the second century ad, and continues up through the age of marco polo. As the silk road was not a single thoroughfare from east to west, the term silk routes has become increasingly favored by historians, though silk road is the more common and recognized name. Frankopan marshals diverse examples to demonstrate the. May 11, 2020 this year, ts spring travel issue is devoted to just five stories, each an account of its writers journey along a different section of the silk road the ancient network of trade routes. Here she compresses 2,000 years of chinese culinary history into short, vivid chapters that juxtapose ancient recipes, poems and matteroffact.
Far more than a history of the silk roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we. Most books focus on european history and view historical events from an entirely eurocentric point of view. Recommended by numerous educational institutions recommend us, including oxford university, michigan state university, and university of minnesota. Everything you always wanted to know about the silk road, this is the benchmark book on this chapter of the history of the region. Aug 27, 2015 it looks at world history from the perspective of the lands along the silk roads the trading routes which brought silk from china to europe, and gold and silver in the other direction. For a different take on the same material, 2 other books you can check out are the silk road. The silk road was a network of trade routes, formally established during.
The concept that the world, or its hugest continent, possesses a heart or a womb or a memory is an ancient one, and the oxford historian peter frankopan, in the introduction to his the silk roads. Many books have been written which claim to be a new history of the world. The silk road is as iconic in world history as the colossus of rhodes or the suez canal. The roman empire and the kushan empire which ruled territory in. In the silk road, valerie hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. The reality was differentand far more interestingas.
The silk road traversed the territory around the taklamakan desert in northwest china and included the routes that connected china with iran. How ordinary people used contracts, 6001400, changing gods in medieval china, 11271276, and, with kenneth r. A history of china to 1600, negotiating daily life in traditional china. For centuries, key records remained hiddensometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. Silk road seattle silk road seattle is an ongoing public education project using the silk road theme to explore cultural interaction across eurasia from the beginning of the common era a. Samarkand and sogdiana the cosmopolitan terminus of the silk road. The silk road was the contemporary name for a complex of ancient trade routes linking east asia with central asia, south asia, and the mediterranean world.
The book takes us by surprise right from the start. Beckwith turns conventional wisdom on its head and makes central eurasia the core of human history, rather than the embarrassing backwater which it is usually portrayed as. This selection of books covers the topic of the silk road, people who traveled or lived in its regions, places found along the routes, and the folktales, myths, and legends that may have migrated along these roads through time. Asias history brilliant threads books and arts the. A major reassessment of world history, the silk roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the reemerging east. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Established when the han dynasty in china officially opened trade with the west in. Frankopans gifts as a storyteller is his ability to draw unusual connections across his vast canvas. China also received nestorian christianity and buddhism from india via.
Originally, the people in the han empire 206 bc220 ad traded silk within the empire from the interior to the western borders, but the internal trade was stymied by the attacks of small nomadic tribes on the trade caravans. This network of exchange emerged along the borders between agricultural china and the steppe nomads during the han dynasty 206bce220ce, in consequence of the interdependence and the conflicts of these two distinctive societies. Follow the silk road, book by book the new york times. A new history of the world, declares a childhood obsession with it. It is beyond me why he needed to spend that much time on a thing tangentially connected to central asia. Books reading about the silk road asia central asia.
The history of the silk road in china routes, chronology. Originally, the people in the han empire 206 bc220 ad traded silk within the empire from the interior to the western borders, but the internal trade was stymied by the attacks of small nomadic tribes on the trade caravans in order to protect their internal trade routes, the han court sent. Empires of the silk road is a major scholarly achievement. It flourished through the byzantine empire, song and tang dynasties, and the mongol.
The history of the silk road predates the han dynasty in practice, however, as the persian royal road, which would come to serve as one of the main arteries of the silk road, was established during the achaemenid empire 500330 bce. Frankopan has written a rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world. Empires of the silk road princeton university press. One of the most interesting and thoughtprovoking books ive read in years. A new history of the world 2015, by peter frankopan this is a roaring best seller of a book that tells what can feel at times like the history of the world. Youre not quite there on the silk road the same way gibbon put you in the roman agora. Xinru liu the silk road was the contemporary name for a complex of ancient trade routes linking east asia with central asia, south asia, and the mediterranean world.
It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from china to rome. Chapter headings trace the many silk roads that have influenced global history, including the emergence and migration of major forms of religious faith, the rise and fall of empires at a time when europe was an uncivilized backwater, and the role of trade as a conduit for the spread of ideas and wealth. This new history of the world is a strangely myopic one for it starts by. Far more than a history of the silk roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come. By purchasing books through this website, you support our nonprofit organization. Kucha and the kizil caves midway between china and iran. The kingdom of kroraina gateway to the languages of the silk road. For centuries, key records remained hiddensometimes deliberately buried by. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. I was bewildered that this book that claims to be the history of the silk road maybe dedicates an hour or hour and half to china. Their principal goal is to provide via the internet materials for learning and teaching about the silk road.
A new history of the world is a 2015 nonfiction book written by peter frankopan, an english academic at the university of oxford. The silk road was a network of trade routes which connected the east and west, and was central to the economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between these regions from the 2nd century bce to the 18th century. The silk road was a network of trade routes connecting china and the far east with the middle east and europe. The silk road trade eventually reached europe, and the roman empire had a healthy trading relationship with the han dynasty.
As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have crisscrossed asia for millennia. To find out more about valerie hansen and the silk road, visit her website at. The silk roads is part of the genre of popular history books that purports to tell the history of the world through one particular theme or from one particular vantage point, and is better than most of them. On the ancient silk road, a walk shadowed by a mystery. The future politicoeconomic influences of the old silk road lands is brought into sharp focus and this book is all the more useful because of this. The author dedicates an entire chapter to the discovery of the americas. The silk road was never really a road at all, but rather a stretch of shifting, unmarked paths across massive expanses of deserts and mountains that carried a slow trickle of trade between. The eastwest trade routes between greece and china began to open during the first and second centuries b.
The new yorker in his new book, the silk roads, frankopan has created something that forces us to sit up and reconsider the world and the way weve always thought about it. Federal agents had trailed ulbricht from his modest house to the library, and arrested him while he was chatting online with. The first complete history of central eurasia from ancient times to the present day, empires of the silk road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. China also received nestorian christianity and buddhism from india via the route. The silk road started with exchanges from the han dynasty to the surrounding central asian areas, probably around the 225200 bce area. Silk road was operated by the pseudonymous dread pirate roberts named after the fictional character from the princess bride. The silk road primarily refers to the land routes connecting east asia and southeast asia with south asia, persia, the. My book focuses on seven silk road sites and proceeds in chronological order. A history of china to 1600, negotiating daily life in traditional china, and voyages in world history coauthored with kenneth r. The silk roads is history painted on an epic scale. Peter frankopan is a trained historian, and so knows how to synthesise a great deal of information from cultures across asia and europe. Jul 09, 2010 the silk road was the contemporary name for a complex of ancient trade routes linking east asia with central asia, south asia, and the mediterranean world. Valerie hansen is professor of history at yale university. Mar 25, 2019 this audio lecture from chp china history podcast gives us an interesting view of the history of the silk road in ancient history.
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