The Silk Roads

“A glorious read…. Frankopan is an exhilarating com- panion for the journey along the routes which conveyed silk, slaves, ideas, religion, and disease, and around which today may hang the destiny of the world.” -Vanity Fair

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. From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching east- ward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. In order to comprehend what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, Frankopan teaches us that we must first grasp their astounding pasts.

Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade. and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cul- tures, and religions. From the rise and fall of empires. to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Chris- tianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century-this book shows how the fate of the West has al- ways been inextricably linked to the East.