Silk Roads

The huge territory reaching eastward from the Balkans over the steppe and South Asia has been thrown into the global limelight in recent years, from the Middle East and its political turmoil to China and its economic development. Frankopan tells us that we have to know the amazing pasts of these cities and countries before we can comprehend what lies ahead for them.

Frankopan shifts our perspective of the world to the east. East and West originally came into contact on the Silk Roads via commerce and conquering, which facilitated the spread of ideologies, civilizations, and faiths. This book illustrates how the history of the West has always been closely tied to that of the East, covering everything from the rise and collapse of empires to the development of Buddhism, the introduction of Christianity and Islam, and the major conflicts of the twentieth century.