The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

This 500-page history of the world has central Asia at its core. Frankopan (Oxford) follows a trajectory found in most Silk Road studies, beginning with ancient trade routes and quickly moving into the rise of Eurasian religions, the eventual dominance of Islam, the rise of the Mongols, etc. The book is unique, however, in that it carries the concept of the Silk Road into the present, ending with a notion of how Western countries have wreaked havoc trying to carry out their own desires along the old silk roads. Overall, the author has an eye for memorable anecdotes that keep the narrative brisk, and this book could be an excellent complement to a world history survey course. Sometimes, important contributions from both new and established consensus scholarship is absent, for example, the notion that Europe had the best fortresses in the world (Tonio Andrade has shown that China built much better fortifications for much of premodern history), but these are minor quibbles that cannot be avoided in a book that tackles such a large time period. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Michael John Wert, Marquette University

*Starred Review* As impressive new airports and industries spring up around the Caspian Sea, Frankopan recognizes not a stunning novelty but rather the reappearance of an abiding reality namely, the geopolitical centrality of Asia's heartland. And it is that centrality that Frankopan foregrounds in this daringly revisionist history of the world, reminding readers that civilization began in Mesopotamia, flourished in Persia, and spread through East-West trading routes radiating out from their Central Asian hub. Conduits for faith and culture, as well as for silks, spices, gold, and slaves, these routes served Islamic armies, Christian missionaries, and Mongol invaders. When Columbus and da Gama opened new trading routes, Europe emerged as the planet's new focus. Yet Central Asia continued to demand attention, as evidenced by the amicable correspondence between the Pope and the Shah in the seventeenth century and the hostile great game conflict between Britain and Russia over Persia and Afghanistan in the nineteenth century. Surveying recent decades, Frankopan sees Central Asia reassuming its former importance, as the U.S. struggles to assert its power in a region where Russia, China, and Islamic militants are all grappling for control of key resources and peoples. A timely challenge to conventional thinking about a pivotal part of the globe.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2016 Booklist

Upending the traditional narrative of Western enlightenment and world domination as the inevitable descendants of Greek and Roman intellectual ferment, Oxford historian Frankopan (The First Crusade) places the silk roads-the long, remote Central Asian trading routes linking Europe and China-at the center of human history. The silk roads served as conduits for goods and ideas as well as plagues and marauding armies, and their location at the nexus of Europe and Asia continues to drive world events today. Frankopan casts his net widely in this work of dizzying breadth and ambition. Casual readers may struggle to follow all the threads; those opening to any page will find fascinating insights that illuminate elusive connections across time and place. Frankopan's thoughts on Islam, for instance, begin with newly discovered "wisps of text" that are reshaping understanding of Muhammad's life and stretch across centuries to the modern luxuries of the "oil-soaked" Middle East. The Black Plague-carried west by the Mongols-devastated Europe and the Middle East, but "the plague turned out to be the catalyst for social and economic change that was so profound that far from marking the death of Europe, it served as its making." Frankopan approaches his craft with an acerbic wit, and his epochal perspective throws the foibles of the modern age into sharp relief. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Frankopan (director, Centre for Byzantine Research, Oxford Univ.; The First Crusade) is one of the world's foremost experts on the silk roads, the crossroads of the world that brought together Eastern and Western civilizations. His lifetime of research on the rise and fall of multiple empires, the spread of and interaction among Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, and his understanding of the markets, economies, landscapes, and politics around the world have much to teach the reader about the ways in which East and West have become globalized. He offers a true vision of the world as a melting pot. Laurence Kennedy's reading is vivid and engaging. VERDICT This audiobook is recommended for listeners who love history and are interested in economics and politics. ["Will engage and inform readers looking for historical underpinnings of long-festering conflicts among nations, cultures, and religions": LJ 1/16 review of the Knopf hc.]-Pam -Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Throughout history, Central Asia has been a nexus of burgeoning trade in goods, people, and ideas. Drawing on prodigious sources, Frankopan (The First Crusade: The Call from the East, 2012, etc.), director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research, creates a sweeping, fascinating chronicle of world history focused on tradein silk, spices, furs, gold, silver, slaves, and religionin a vast region from the Mediterranean's eastern shores to the Himalayas. What is now the Caucasus, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan once served as the bridge between Europe and Asia, an area, the author writes, "on which the globe spun," where thriving cities housed diverse populations speaking a "cauldron" of languages, where "the world's great religions burst into life" and "great empires rose and fell." Trade in silk is exemplary of the confluence of cultures: the shimmering fabric was "a cipher for exoticism and eroticism" but also suspicion and conflict. Some thought the diaphanous material was "disgraceful" and sought to outlaw it; others damned the high cost of such luxuries. Controversies arose over religions, as well. The Silk Roads "were crowded, as deities and cults, priests and local rulers jostled with each other," with political implications: "a society protected and favored by the right god, or gods, thrived; those promising false idols....suffered." Among the many colorful figures the author vividly portrays, Genghis Khan emerges as a strategic genius who became "the undisputed master of the Mongolian steppes by 1206." Although the author acknowledges the Mongols' brutality, he also argues that their investment in infrastructure benefited the region. Likewise, he sees an upside to the Black Plague, which was a "catalyst for [the] social and economic change" that led to Europe's rise. Until the 16th century, though, Europe was "little more than a sideshow" compared with "titanic struggles" in Central Asia. Frankopan weaves together his many narrative strands with verve and impressive scholarship. A vastly rich historical tapestry that puts ongoing struggles in a new perspective. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This is a steady march through world history, centered not in the West's traditional story of dominance but rather the pivotal importance of the lands stretching from the Middle East to Asia. Narrator Kennedy's scholarly English accent stands in appropriately for Oxford historian Frankopan, who injects his sweeping study with the perspective about global history that he accuses the West of typically lacking. Kennedy presents the full range of human events with an evenness that grounds the wide-ranging and detailed narrative in its scholarship and big-picture purpose. The steadiness of his timing and clarity of pronunciation make for pleasant listening, and he makes fluid use of accents and impressions to bring people and places—from Persia to India and beyond—alive. Both content and presentation describe with sensitivity the constant political, economic, and cultural exchange and upheaval present in those areas connected by the Silk Roads. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Frankopan (director, Centre for Byzantine Research, Oxford Univ.; The First Crusade) is one of the world's foremost experts on the silk roads, the crossroads of the world that brought together Eastern and Western civilizations. His lifetime of research on the rise and fall of multiple empires, the spread of and interaction among Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, and his understanding of the markets, economies, landscapes, and politics around the world have much to teach the reader about the ways in which East and West have become globalized. He offers a true vision of the world as a melting pot. Laurence Kennedy's reading is vivid and engaging. VERDICT This audiobook is recommended for listeners who love history and are interested in economics and politics. ["Will engage and inform readers looking for historical underpinnings of long-festering conflicts among nations, cultures, and religions": LJ 1/16 review of the Knopf hc.]—Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence