The silk road history book

The silk road, however, offers an opportunity to avoid this by presenting the history through themes rather than by chronology. So, if you want a concise and informative book on the silk road, simply scroll up and click the buy now button for instant. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. This volume argues that bri more importantly creates a venue for the meeting of cultures by promoting peopletopeople interaction and exchange. From the middle east and its political instability to china and its economic rise, the vast region. Peter frankopan the silk roads xenophon military 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. Reviews on the silk roads were generally positive and were published by the guardian, the independent, the telegraph, the times. A new history of the world, by peter frankopan, bloomsbury, rrp. Many books have been written which claim to be a new history of the world.

Choice an impressively wellresearched book exploring the documentation of many different cultures and people along the many routes known as the silk road. 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. Silk road trade commenced in a great fashion through the work mission of zhang qian 200114 bc. The first known instances of gunpowder in china are from 850 ad, but there is now evidence of gunpowder being used for military purposes there until 919 ad. The eastwest trade routes between greece and china began to open during the first and second centuries b. The silk road was a network of trade routes, formally established during. The silk road label is relatively recent, coined only in 1877 by the german. Oct 11, 2017 following ross ulbrichts arrest in october 20, silk road 2. With global history, a book could be 5,000 pages long. A history of china to 1600, negotiating daily life in traditional china, and voyages in world history coauthored with kenneth r. 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.

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. I had assumed we would be learning about the history of the silk roads and the many dynasties that rose and fell along the route the songdians, the cities of the tamir basin for example. 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. Shadow of the silk road by colin thubron, life along the silk road by susan whitfield, the silk roads. The rich resources of china, tibet, india, persia iran, arabia saudi arabia, turkey, and other countries were exchanged for thousands of years along roads that. 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. In uzbekistan, coming to terms with the countrys dazzling. 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 explores the journey from silk road to belt road by analyzing topics ranging from history to religion, and from language to culture. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Once gunpowder had been invented in china, the silk road helped spread it westwards. The silk road is a term used to designate a group of trade routes that stretched from eastern asia to the mediterranean sea.

The silk roads, which covers several continents and many centuries. Please tell me about your 2017 contribution to scholarship, the silk road. 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. 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. 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. A history of china to 1600, negotiating daily life in traditional china. Silk road to belt road reinventing the past and shaping the. The history of the silk road in china routes, chronology. Choice an impressively wellresearched book exploring the documentation of many different cultures and people along the many routes known as. A journey along the silk road, from the birth of the worlds ancient religions to contemporary international politics. The rise and fall of silk road, the dark webs amazon. A new history of the world, peter frankopan seeks to counter the eurocentric tendency to see globalisation solely as a.

The book is divided into seven chapters one each for the oasis towns of niya, loulan, kucha, turfan, samarkand, changan, dunhuang, and khotan. The best books on central asia and the silk road region. The clear prose, numerous maps and illustrations, and animated tales of the silk roads travelers and explorers will make hansens book a classroom favorite. Oct 11, 2012 the silk road is as iconic in world history as the colossus of rhodes or the suez canal. Compiled by our contributors, a reading list for recreating the ancient trade route from the comfort of home.

It is a celebration of the drudgery of sifting ancient trash, of the painstaking work of recovering multilingual documents found in fragments, clumps, and, at the mogao caves, one great bibliographical hoard. Art and history on the silk road 2000, by roderick whitfield, susan whitfield and neville agnew. 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. Today the silk road still tells many stories of ancient times, and the exchange of cultures. 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. Ancient history encyclopedia receives a small commission for each book sold through our affiliate partners. 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. Everything you always wanted to know about the silk road, this is the benchmark book on this chapter of the history of the region. 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. Follow the silk road, book by book the new york times. For a different take on the same material, 2 other books you can check out are the silk road. Jun 01, 2011 a history of the silk road based mainly on the archaeological sources and textual analysis.

Further iterations of silk road have appeared, as well as other sites offering similar services. The time is ripe for this new history of the world, which places the emphasis firmly on the east, from eastern europe to india and china. Silk road was operated by the pseudonymous dread pirate roberts named after the fictional character from the princess bride. 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. It explores the journey from silkroad to beltroad by analyzing topics ranging from history to religion, and from language to culture. For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west in. The silk road in world history association for asian studies. The roman empire and the kushan empire which ruled territory in. It was on the silk roads that east and west first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. 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 south asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. Jan 25, 20 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.

Anderson is the coeditor, with nola cooke and li tana, of the volume the tongking gulf through history university of. 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. The silk road traversed the territory around the taklamakan desert in northwest china and included the routes that connected china with iran. Peter frankopan is a trained historian, and so knows how to synthesise a great deal of information from cultures across asia and europe. 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. How the black death spread along the silk road history. To find out more about valerie hansen and the silk road, visit her website at. Take a tour to discover the history and culture of the silk road.

Using one single name for this intricate web of trade routes is a modern invention. In the past decade, she has spent three years in china. The silk road is named after the lucrative international trade in chinese silk textiles that started during the han dynasty 207 bc 220 ce. 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. Indeed, this is what the editors seem to be expecting. My book focuses on seven silk road sites and proceeds in. The reality was different, and far more interesting, as revealed in this new 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. 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.

This year, ts spring travel issue is devoted to just five stories, each an account. Anderson is currently engaged in research for a new book on the southwestern silk road between china and northern southeast asia during the ninth through thirteenth centuries. Apr 23, 2020 the silk road, a network of land and sea trade routes that connected china and the far east with europe from b. Please see our popular silk road tours below for inspiration. Trade was not the primary purpose of the silk road, more a network of pathways than a road, in its heyday. This is probably the most frustrating part of my experience because it was the reason i purchased the book and the blurb seems to state that china will be discussed. Valerie hansen is professor of history at yale university. Books reading about the silk road asia central asia. The epic history of the crossroads of the world the meeting place of east and west and the birthplace of civilization.

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. Silk road to belt road reinventing the past and shaping. A new history of the world reprint by frankopan, peter isbn. This book is well researched and well written but i have given it four stars as it is really a history of only a small part of what is known as the silk road, the history of the towns around the perimeter of the taklamakan desert. Breathtaking and addictively readable history book of the year daily telegraph. This new history of the world is a strangely myopic one for it starts by. I thought this would be an asian centric book showing the silk roads impact on han dynasty china and the steps that had to be taken to keep the route secure. The silk road may have formally opened up trade between the far east and europe during the han dynasty, which ruled china from 206 b. How ordinary people used contracts, 6001400, changing gods in medieval china, 11271276, and, with kenneth r.