The Silk Roads
€0,00
First published in 2015, Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World offers a sweeping reconsideration of the past, shifting the familiar centre of historical attention from Western Europe to the vast network of routes connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. From the ancient Persian Empire and the spread of Buddhism to the rise of Islam, the Mongol conquests and the age of European imperial expansion, Frankopan traces the movement of people, ideas, religions, goods and power across the Eurasian heartland. Cities such as Samarkand, Baghdad and Constantinople emerge as pivotal crossroads, while merchants, conquerors and rulers shape a history far more interconnected than conventional narratives often suggest. The result is a richly detailed account of how geography and commerce have influenced the destinies of civilisations.
Drawing on political, economic and cultural history, Frankopan challenges the assumption that the modern world can be understood primarily through a Western lens. His narrative follows the enduring significance of the Silk Roads into the present, examining how energy, trade and strategic rivalry continue to place Central Asia and the Middle East at the heart of global affairs. Both an ambitious work of synthesis and an invitation to reconsider familiar historical assumptions, the book connects ancient networks with contemporary geopolitics. It offers readers a compelling perspective on the exchanges and encounters that have shaped world history across centuries.
From the book
“The Silk Roads are the story of the connections that have linked peoples and places for thousands of years.”
— Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads
On The Silk Roads
“A fascinating new history of the world.”
— The Guardian