Synopsis

The No' 1 Sunday Times Bestseller.

From the rise and fall of empires in China, Persia, and Rome itself to the spread of Buddhism and advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to Western imperialism and the great wars of the twentieth century, this epic, magisterial work illuminates how the Silk Roads - the crossroads of the world, the meeting place of East and West - perhaps more than anything else, shaped global history over the past two millennia.

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, and it was the appetites for foreign goods that drove economies and the growth of nations. From the first cities in Mesopotamia to the emergence of Greece and Rome to the depredations by the Mongols, the transmission of the Black Death, the struggles of the Great Game, and the fall of Communism - the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.

By way of events as disparate as the American Revolution and the world wars of the twentieth century, Peter Frankopan realigns the world, orienting us eastward, and illuminating how even the rise of the West five hundred years ago resulted from its efforts to gain access to and control of these Eurasian trading networks.

In an increasingly globalised planet, where current events in Asia and the Middle East dominate the world's attention, this magnificent work of history is very much a work of our times.

Details

• Format : Standard, Thick 2nd Hand Paperback
• Condition : Very Good
• Category : Non-Fiction - History & Futurology
• Published : 2015 (This Edition 2016 - Bloomsbury)
• ISBN : 9781408939997
• SKU : B000055
• PPC : SP550gm
• RRP : £14.99
• Quantity Available : 1 only.

External Reviews

"Brilliant & Fearless . . . This is History on a grand scale." - William Dalrymple, The Guardian.

"I would highly recommend this beautifully crafted and engaging historical narrative which reads like a well made documentary." - Goodreads Review.

'A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world.' - Wall Street Journal.

'Dazzlingly good' - Evening Standard.

'Based on astonishingly wide and deep reading and in all areas draws on the latest research. It is full of vivid and recondite details.' - Independent.

'Full of intriguing insights and fascinating details.' - Observer.

'With extraordinary erudition and a vivid style, he takes us on a dazzling tour of these parts from the rise of the first empires right through to the present.' - Open (Weekly).

'Beautifully constructed, a terrific and exhilarating read and a new perspective on world history.' - Averil Cameron, History Today.

'As well-written, entertaining, disturbing and exciting as a detective story.' - Svenska Dagbladet.

'A dazzling piece of historical writing.' - South China Morning Post.

The Author

Peter Frankopan (born 22 March 1971) is a British historian, writer, and hotelier. 

He is Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he is Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research and Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. He is also Professor of Silk Roads Studies at King's College, Cambridge. He works on the history and politics of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Middle East, Persia/Iran, Central Asia, China and beyond - as well as on natural resources, climate and disease.

Peter often writes for the international press, including The Sunday Times, New York Times, Financial Times, Guardian, and the Evening Standard.