Book Review - The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
As promised, I am now starting to use this Substack for more content than just my transcripts and sources. I have a few articles waiting down the pipeline, including a few book reviews. To kick things off, I have a review of the wonderful work by Professor Peter Frankopan. Please enjoy, and do pick this up if this seems interesting!
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan starts off with a preface that I think perfectly encapsulates both the premise of this work and of problems in historical teaching more broadly.
“As a child, one of my most prized possessions was a large map of the world. It was pinned on the wall by my bed, and I would stare at it every night before I went to sleep. Before long, I had memorized the names and locations of all the countries, noting their capital cities, as well as the oceans and the seas, and the rivers that flowed in to them; the names of major mountain ranges and deserts, written in urgent italics, thrilled with adventure and danger. By the time I was a teenager, I had become uneasy about the relentlessly narrow geographic focus of my classes at school, which concentrated solely on western Europe and the United States and left most of the rest of the world untouched… I would look at my map and see huge regions of the world that had been passed in silence.”1
If the intent of this work was to illuminate these historical dark spots, then Professor Peter Frankopan of Oxford University has done a remarkable job. The Silk Roads is an ambitious book, seeking to rewrite world history from the lenses of a Mediterranean framework. Shying away from Euro-centric portrayals of history, The Silk Roads spans several thousand years and examines regions of the world not typically seen in typical broader surveys. Professor Frankopan frames many key political developments and historical changes through a series of connections and causations. Rather than examine moments in isolation, The Silk Roads is clear that every event in time had a number of different preceding factors. The vast array of cultures, religions, and peoples inhabiting each leg of the Silk Road would play an enormous role in shaping the world today.
Instead of raising typical points, such as Euro-centric discussions on colonialism and industrialization, Professor Frankopan offers a more diverse lens. For instance, the book reveals the inner political dynamics of the Qajars in a world that was shifting its economy from coal to oil. The Great Game, often relegated to a single sentence in public education, is framed in a broader geopolitical struggle that would ultimately give way to the First World War. When The Silk Roads touches on the Second World War, the book highlights a more nuanced portrait of the Eastern Front, showing how simple concerns over food ultimately spurred on acts of desperation by Nazi Germany, which in turn set a chain of dominoes that enabled victory for the Allies.
There are some issues with The Silk Roads. For instance, the title of the book is perhaps a misnomer. Although trade, commerce, and merchants are all emphasized, they are not necessarily the focus on this work. Intricate details on trade practices, specific routes, and such are not provided in major detail. Meanwhile, there is a distinct lack of discussion on some regions of the traditional Silk Road. There is little mention of Central Asia during the 1500s to the Great Game, and much of this latter part is focused on Iran. Information on groups like the Shaybanid Uzbeks and the Uighurs are lacking. However, these minor criticisms do not detract from the overall goal of this work, which is to reframe world history away from traditional narratives of European exceptionalism and state isolationism. The Silk Roads clearly demonstrates how connected the world was, and for that, it should be commended.
Overall, The Silk Roads is a great primer on world history from a lens that is often not seen in public education and popular history. The lands of the Middle East are demystified. The world of Central Asia is given its proper relevance. The global, transnational networks that linked China to Europe are extended beyond the Atlantic and Pacific, and are connected to other bodies like the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean. Other geographies are tied together in similar fashions. There are many chapters discussing the linkages between the steppes of Siberia to places like the Levant and India, and the continued reference to merchants and trade cement the idea that the world has always been connected. As a wide primer that seeks to reexamine world history, I can’t recommend this book enough.
Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), xiii.