Nhistory of the silk road book

For a different take on the same material, 2 other books you can check out are the silk road. Everything you always wanted to know about the silk road, this is the benchmark book on this chapter of the history of the region. Over 80 countries are now part of the initiative, frankopan points out, encompassing more than 63% of the worlds population and 29% of its global economic output. I was a bit disappointed when begining to read the book because i presumed it was about the original silk road and its continuation over the centuries.

The linking of asia to europe via eurasia for conquest and trade since at least 120bc is a unique part of the worlds history. 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. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. In this intriguing book, xinru liu reveals both why and how this longdistance trade in luxury goods emerged in the late third century bce, following its story through to the mongol conquest.

Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. A sweeping, fascinating chronicle of world history focused on. The silk road is as iconic in world history as the colossus of rhodes or the suez canal. 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. Ancient history encyclopedia receives a small commission for each book sold through our affiliate partners.

The silk roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Even though a few years old, almost all its cultural and sightseeing information is still relevant, and it can be supplemented by downloading the silk road chapter of the lonely planet china guide. A new history of the world and millions of other books are available for instant access. The silk road, a series of ancient trade routes stretching across central asia to europe, evokes exotic images of camel trains laden with bales of fine chinese silk, spices, and perfume, of desert oases surrounded by snowcapped mountains, of bustling markets thronging with travellers buying and selling grapes, coriander, baltic amber, and mediterranean coral. Much of the new silk roads is about how china s road has come to ring the world. 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. Books to read about the silk road guide for seniors. The silk road was a network of trade routes, formally established during. Peter frankopan explores the connections made by people, trade, disease, war, religion, adventure, science and technology in this extraordinary book about how the east married the west with a remarkable voyage at its heart the journey along the silk roads. The book takes us by surprise right from the start. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The temptation in writing any book subtitled a new. Trade along the socalled silk road economic belt included fruits and vegetables, livestock, grain, leather and hides, tools, religious objects, artwork, precious stones and metals andperhaps more importantlylanguage, culture, religious beliefs, philosophy and science. Asias history brilliant threads books and arts the.

Throughout history, central asia has been a nexus of burgeoning trade in goods, people, and ideas. As he mentions in his preface, somewhere, a friend suggested that he could weave all his tales into one overall book with a common theme of silk roads. In his famous book about the orient, he mentions a special passport in the form of a board. This book is not as advertised a new history of the world, but rather a view of the economic impact of trade on the western world. A new history of the world is a 2015 nonfiction book written by peter frankopan, an english academic at the university of oxford. Its one of very, very few books from any culture that takes global trade as a whole, without being biased towards one culture or viewpoint.

The ancient silk road winds into the shah foladi valley near bamiyan in afghanistan. It flows through the heart of asia, but it has officially vanished leaving behind the pattern of its restlessness. Drawing on prodigious sources, frankopan the first crusade. Today, most people travel the silk road in a land rover.

Many books have been written which claim to be a new history of the world. One of hansens main themes is that the reality of silk road trade is very different from the romantic vision of a mighty silk road carrying goods from xian to rome. Robertss westerncentric penguin history of the world, which. Song of the silk road by mingmei yip nook book ebook.

This book spends most of its time in detailing the trade and fortunes of the west instead of focusing on the various kingdoms of the silk road. Peter frankopan is a trained historian, and so knows how to synthesise a great deal of information from cultures across asia and europe and the span of several centuries in a nuanced manner. Reviews on the silk roads were generally positive and were published by the guardian, the independent, the telegraph, the times. The history of the silk road in china routes, chronology. Like runciman, frankopan is a multilingual byzantinist whose first books were about the crusades. 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. This was where empires were won and where they were lost. Instructors could effectively augment the classroom use of lius text with detailed firsthand accounts by wellknown travelers such as xuanzang, marco polo, or ibn batutta for lively discussion sections. The phrase in our own time has been used as a metaphor for central asian oil pipelines, and it is common advertising copy for the romantic exoticism of. Instead, frankopan places the center the centre of the world in the region of modern iraq, iran, the caucasus and the russian steppes. The silk road that stretched across the vastness of central asia fizzed with culture and commerce an impressive new. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Silk road, ancient trade route, linking china with the west, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of rome and china. Their principal goal is to provide via the internet materials for learning and teaching about the silk road.

Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 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. Shadow of the silk road is a travel book, not a novel with a plot, and the enjoyment of reading it lies in the details of every traveler, every situation and every town thubron experiences along the way. There was no single grand highway but rather a varied collection of relatively local trade routes. Youre not quite there on the silk road the same way gibbon put you in the roman agora. The best books on central asia and the silk road region. The reality was differentand far more interestingas. Questions for peter frankopan, author of the silk roads its been centuries since camel caravans crisscrossed eurasia along the silk roads. The experiences add up to an interesting portrait of lands and people not well known or appreciated for all the twists of fate history has dealt them. Nishant dahiya, npr superb peter frankopan is an exceptional storyteller the lands of the silk roads. In this longawaited second edition, susan whitfield broadens her exploration of the silk road and expands her rich and varied portrait of life. The silk road, a transeurasian network of trade routes connecting east and southeast asia to central asia, india, southwest asia, the mediterranean, and northern europe, which flourished from. Further iterations of silk road have appeared, as well as other sites offering similar services. The silk roads, which covers several continents and many centuries.

These overland trails and sea lanes carried not only silks, but also cotton textiles, dyes, horses, incense, spices, gems, glass, and ceramics along with religious ideas, governing customs, and technology. This is an excellent book which takes a different perspective on history than the usual run of history books. An ambitious persiancentric rewrite of world history is full of insight but let down by factual errors. 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. For xian through kashgar, in china, i recommend, silk road. For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west in. 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. The silk roads have functioned as the worlds the traditional view that the world we know today was shaped by the romans and the greeks is challenged in this book. Set your sails east with this stunningly original new history of the world. Peter frankopan is an exceptional storyteller the lands of the silk roads are of renewed importance, and frankopans book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to make sense of this union of past and present. Beckwith, ch, 2009, empieres of the silk road, princeton and oxford addeddate 20109 18. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including oxford university, michigan state. The silk road in world history one of the books strengths.

In june 2016 the silk roads was chosen to be the waterstones nonfiction book of the month. A new history of the world is a counterblast to another ambitious book from an earlier generation, j. The silk road in world history by xinru liu, 2010 online. The silk road primarily refers to the land routes connecting east asia and southeast asia with south asia, persia, the arabian peninsula, east africa and southern europe. It conjures a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from china to rome. It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from china to rome. Books reading about the silk road asia central asia. A new history first paperback edition by hansen, valerie isbn. The silk roads in history university of washington. For more than 1500 years, across more than 4000 miles, the silk roads connected east and west. It was issued by the yuan government to the merchants to protect their trade and free movement within the country. The ancient trade routes that made up the silk road were some of the great conduits of cultural and material exchange in world history.

China also received nestorian christianity and buddhism from india via. Following ross ulbrichts arrest in october 20, silk road 2. A new history of the world reprint by peter frankopan isbn. Breathtaking and addictively readable history book of the year daily telegraph.

As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have crisscrossed asia for millennia. Peter frankopans the silk roads pivots history towards asia. Best books to read about the silk road a list for senior travellers. Peter frankopan director of the oxford centre for byzantine research, university of oxford will discuss his new book the silk roads. Averil cameron former professor of late antique and byzantine history, university of oxford robert moore professor emeritus of history, newcastle universitythe discussion will be introduced by elleke boehmer acting. 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. A new history of the world, peter frankopan seeks to counter the eurocentric tendency to see globalisation solely as a process of western expansion by providing a comprehensive history of intellectual, physical and commercial exchange across the silk roads of persia. A new history of the world reprint by frankopan, peter isbn. 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.