The Silk Roads
 | This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. (August 2022) |
 First edition book cover | |
| Author | Peter Frankopan |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Neil Packer (illustrated edition) |
| Language | English |
| Subject | history |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury |
Publication date | August 27, 2015 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook |
| Pages | 636 |
| ISBN | 978-1-4088-3997-3 |
| OCLC | 943517265 |
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World is a 2015 non-fiction book written by Peter Frankopan, a historian at the University of Oxford. An illustrated abridged edition was illustrated by Neil Packer.[1] The full text is divided into 25 chapters. It can also be said that the author shows the readers 25 Silk Roads. The author combines the development of the world with the Silk Road, describing religion, war, wealth, and peace on the Silk Road. This book changes readers' perception that the Silk Road is just a way of trade between countries and that the Silk Road exists in history. The definition of the new Silk Road established for readers is a mini world history that has witnessed the development of human civilization. For Peter Frankopan, the history of the Silk Road is a condensed world history, and the Silk Road is a dazzling stage for human civilization. It has not only shaped the past of mankind, but will also dominate the future of the world.
Author
Peter Frankopan is a historian at Worcester College, Oxford and director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. His areas of focus are the history of the Byzantine Empire, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Russia and the interdependence of Islam and Christianity. He has also studied Greek literature of the Middle Ages and rhetoric, as well as cultural interactions between Constantinople and the Islamic world.[2] He is active in a number of philanthropic organisations, the most of which are focused on education, international development, gender studies, and classical music. He has been a trustee of Wellington College since 2006. He is the Frankopan Foundation's chairman. In addition to the United Kingdom, France, Croatia, and the Netherlands, Frankopan owns and runs a variety of family businesses. And A Curious Group of Hotels, which he and his wife Jessica founded in 1999, is one of the most well-known. Frankopan contributes to The New York Times, The Financial Times, and The Guardian Evening Standard on a regular basis (Faculty of History).[3]
Author's opinion
Frankopan was struck by the overwhelming response to the book from readers.[4] Frankopan did not expect so many people to be interested in this book. Frankopan made readers aware of the differences between past and present regions of the world and made people aware that Eurocentrism was no longer true.[4] The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Xi Jinping will lead to rapid economic growth in China and other neighboring countries.[5] Society is constantly changing, and people should take a long-term and critical view of their national development.[6] Frankopan explained that insisting on a European center will only make other countries stronger and his own country stagnate.
Knowledge background
From the opening of trade by the Han Dynasty in China in 130 BC to the closure of trade with the West by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. The German geographer and traveler Ferdinand von Richthofen first used the term "Silk Road" in AD 1877 to describe the inaccessible passage of goods between Europe and East Asia. The goods on the Silk Road are dazzling. Merchants shipped silk from China to Europe to dress royalty and wealthy customers. Other items that are popular in Asia include jade and other precious stones, porcelain, tea and spices. In exchange, horses, glassware, textiles and manufactured goods moved east.[7] Frankopan's idea for silk road came from Richthofen. In Richthofen's book on the Silk Road, it focuses on the connection between Chinese history and the Silk Road, and how the history of the world guides the occurrence of the Silk Road. This is in line with Frankopan's view of the Silk Road.[8]
Summary
The traditional view is that Western civilization descends from the Romans, who were in turn heir to the Greeks, who, in some accounts, were heirs to the Egyptians. Frankopan argues that the Persian Empire was the actual centre point of the rise of Western civilization.
In the 4th century BC, gold commodities were exchanged along with slaves. In the next few thousand years, the formation of various ideas such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam spread along the Silk Road. Genghis Khan led the Mongol westward conquest and promoted the exchange between the East and the West. Through continuous expansion and colonization, the British Empire established an empire on which the sun never sets. Hitler started the war for the resources on the Silk Road.[1]
Influence
Reviews on The Silk Roads were generally positive. Positive reviews appeared in The Guardian,[9] The Independent,[10] The Telegraph,[11] The Times.[12] and The New York Review of Books.[13] The Guardia's review of the book in 2015 was 'The Silk Roads is full of intriguing insights and some fascinating details'.[14] As early as 1587, Christopher Marlowe referred to Persia/Iran as "the centre of the globe," and many historians agree. Francopan, on the other hand, went further than many others before him, diving deeper into the archives and quoting more manuscripts to support his argument.[9] The Independent considers the book 'A bold, if imperfect, study that paints a picture of the past from a new perspective'.[15] The New York Times commented that 'The danger of glibness is never far, but it is always held off, and I have to say that "Silk Roads" is what my old friend the historian Norman Stone used to describe as " an old-fashioned good book'.[16] In June 2016 The Silk Roads was chosen to be the Waterstones non-fiction book of the month.[17]
Reception
Praise
Each chapter's heading is highly intriguing.[18] Chapter 8, titled The Road to Heaven, for example, recounts the history of the Crusades.[18] One of the reasons for their success in drawing readers is because of these intriguing headlines. The economic growth of the East has been driven by an increase in demand in the West as a result of the development of the economy.[19] They concluded that the advent of the Silk Road caused countries to seek shared interests as a result of a lack of collaboration among European countries. The rise of fascism reflected a change in the economic balance of power. In the shifting economic and political structure of Western countries, Frankopan rightly points out the weaknesses of liberal democracy.[19] Frankopan masterfully balances history with literature, and the book is accessible even to those who are unfamiliar with history.[18] Sanmartí found several minor inaccuracies in the book, as well as other components that were missing.[20] For a 650-page book, this is insignificant. He concludes his study by telling the reader that this book is an anti-Eurocentrism collection, not a tool for comprehending world history.[18] Although the title A New History of the World is not entirely suit, the rigors historical content and intriguing anecdotes appeal to the broad reader.[20]
Criticism
Although the Silk Road helped India's economy to grow swiftly, Frankopan failed to account for the country's rapid population expansion and the increasing wealth gap.[19] Sanmartí disagrees with Frankopan's assertion that there is no longer any space on Earth for nations to compete for, implying that Eurasia would return to its former position as the world's centre. There are still many places on Earth that are covered by water that have not been explored, and people are still exploring planets beyond Earth.[20] The emergence of renewable energy may lead to the decline of oil in the Middle East, and people are still exploring planets beyond Earth.
Frankopan's dismissive attitude towards Northern European engagement in the Asian slave trade, while ignoring the substantial demand for such captives in Central Asian and Middle Eastern markets, is also problematic. Throughout the book, Frankopan emphasizes the Europeans' heinous activities while ignoring the equally heinous atrocities committed simultaneously in Eurasia.[21]
Guha argues that from the beginning of the book through Columbus' voyages, the description of the Black Death brings the subject into the modern part it has lost the subject it was meant to express. A new history of the world does not need to include extensive descriptions of the Nazi and Soviet truce of 1939-1941. And the conflict content in Afghanistan and Iraq is unnecessary. While many consider the book novel, in many ways it presents an outdated history that lacks a description of much of human life. Frankopan focuses more on describing urban civilization. The history of the city as the main object of description, its main characters are mostly rulers, merchants and priests.[22]
Extension
The New Silk Roads
Although The New Silk Roads is a stand-alone book, it is more intended as a continuation of the Silk Roads. This book fits better into a modern context. Frankopan largely echoes the theme of his last book, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. He has researched everything from the relevance of China's "One Belt, One Road" strategy to the international dispute between Dubai and Djibouti over a port in East Africa. Frankopan supports his point by citing numerous political accounts. In Frankopan's book, readers are encouraged not to be influenced by media feudalism, but to consider what they can learn from Eastern cultures. At the same time, Frankopan also emphasized the important value of strengthening exchanges and partnerships in various countries around the world.[23]
See also
References
- ^ a b The Silk Roads: A New history of the World. Bloomsbury. p. 3.
- ^ Lofthouse, Richard. "Turning history on its head: Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads, on following the 'call of the east". oxfordtoday. 2015.
- ^ "Faculty of History". University of Oxford.
- ^ a b Anthony, Andrew (2018). "Peter Frankopan: 'I know my place... and it's not to shape answers for politicians'". The Guardian.
- ^ Venkat, Vidya (2018). "'these were the gene corridors': In conversation with Peter Frankopan on his latest book, 'The New Silk Roads'". THE HINDU.
- ^ Dahiya, Nishant (2016). "An ancient route rolls on: Questions for author of 'the silk roads'". npr.
- ^ "About the Silk Roads | Silk Roads Programme". en.unesco.org. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- ^ Chin, Tamara (2013-09-01). "The Invention of the Silk Road, 1877". Critical Inquiry. 40 (1): 194–219. doi:10.1086/673232. ISSN 0093-1896. S2CID 162186548.
- ^ a b Sattin, Anthony (2015). "The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan review – a frustrating trail". Theguardian.
- ^ Irwin, Robert (13 August 2015). "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan: All loud on the Eastern Front". Independent.
- ^ Hughes, Bettany (15 August 2015). "The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, review: 'charismatic'". Telegraph.
- ^ Gerard DeGroot, Gerard. "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan".
- ^ Thubron, Colin. "A Different Vision of History by Peter Frankopan, review".
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ "The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan review – a frustrating trail". the Guardian. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ "Book review: The Silk Roads: A New History of the World". The Independent. 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ "Follow the Silk Road, Book by Book". The New York Times. 2020-05-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ @WatElgin (May 31, 2016). "Our Non-Fiction Book Of The Month is 'The Silk Roads' by Peter Frankopan an utterly Compelling and entertaining read" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d Nikolay, Kradin (2017). "A Review of Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. Cliodynamics : the Journal of Theoretical and Mathematical History". Cliodynamics. 7 (2): 288–289. doi:10.21237/C7CLIO7233333.
- ^ a b c Laug, Katja; Rance, Shayla (2020). "The New Silk Roads". Reinvention. 31. doi:10.31273/reinvention.v13i1.617. S2CID 219088260.
- ^ a b c Sanmarti, Marcal (2017). "Ressenya: The Silk Roads: A new history of the wor/Peter Frankopan (2015)". Entremons: UPF Journal of World History: 154–157.[dead link]
- ^ Leonzini, Alexandra (2016-10-10). "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, by Peter Frankopan". Global Histories: A Student Journal. 2 (1). doi:10.17169/GHSJ.2016.69.
- ^ "'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World', by Peter Frankopan". Financial Times. 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- ^ Ranasinghe, Mark (2020). "The New Silk Roads. By Peter Frankopan". The Journal of Economic History. 81 (1): 327–329. doi:10.1017/S0022050721000012. ISSN 0022-0507. S2CID 233788055.