 | The Silk Roads: A New History of the World focuses on the pivotal role of Central Asia in long-distance trade, from ancient to modern times. The narrative begins with the trade of silk from China across the Eurasian steppes to Mesopotamia and the city-states of the Mediterranean. The traders making this arduous trek crossed deserts and mountains, enduring temperature extremes and other hardships in the pursuit of profit. The book also explores the impact of other other trade goods—spices, incense, amber, furs, horses, and slaves—and the new ideas exchanged along the routes with these luxury items, including Buddhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Islam. |
A consistent theme throughout the book is how wealth and stability facilitate long-distance trade of luxury items. The Persian, Roman, Muslim, and Mongol empires all used their vast wealth to build beautiful monuments and to acquire luxury goods from abroad—often shipped along the same routes as the original Silk Roads.
In Persia: “Spectacular buildings were erected in the huge cities of Babylon, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Susa, where King Darius built a magnificent palace using the highest-quality ebony and silver from Egypt and cedar from Lebanon, fine gold from Bactria, lapis and cinnabar from Sogniana, turquoise from Khwarezm, and ivory from India.”
Muslim Empire: “At its peak, Baghdad was a magnificent city to behold. With its parks, markets, mosques, and bathhouses—as well as schools, hospitals, and charitable foundations—it was home to mansions “lavishly gilded and decorated and hung with beautiful tapestries and hanging of brocade and silk.”
In Persia: “Spectacular buildings were erected in the huge cities of Babylon, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Susa, where King Darius built a magnificent palace using the highest-quality ebony and silver from Egypt and cedar from Lebanon, fine gold from Bactria, lapis and cinnabar from Sogniana, turquoise from Khwarezm, and ivory from India.”
Muslim Empire: “At its peak, Baghdad was a magnificent city to behold. With its parks, markets, mosques, and bathhouses—as well as schools, hospitals, and charitable foundations—it was home to mansions “lavishly gilded and decorated and hung with beautiful tapestries and hanging of brocade and silk.”
 | The original traders supplying these luxury goods along the Silk Roads were Sogdians. “These were traveling merchants from the heart of Central Asia, classic middlemen whose own close-knit networks and efficient use of credit left them ideally positioned to dominate long-distance trade. The key to their commercial success was a dependable chain of stopping points.” They traded “gold and silver ornaments, such as hair clasps and finely crafted vessels, hemp, linen, woolen cloth, saffron, pepper and camphor, but they specialized in trading silk. Sogdians were the glue that connected towns, oases, and regions together.” |
In later eras, Armenians and Jews would fill this critical role of connecting the world through long-distance trade. “Jewish merchants were highly adept linguists, fluent in Arabic, Persian, Latin, Frankish, Andalusian, and Slavic [ . . . and they] travelled regularly to India and China, returning with musk, aloe wood, camphor, cinnamon, ‘and other eastern products’ which they traded along a chain of ports and towns that serviced markets in Mecca, Medina, and Constantinople, as well as towns on the Tigris and Euphrates.”
One of the most fascinating stories in the book was the rise of Islam. Muhammad received his divine inspiration during the Roman-Persian wars, which severely restricted trade, devastating the economies of the southern Arab tribes. Muhammad offered an enticing alternative:
“Spiritual salvation would bring economic rewards. . . . believers would behold nothing less than Paradise, where gardens were fed by fresh and pure water, by ‘rivers of wine delectable to those that drink it, and rivers of clarified honey.’ ”
“This radical and impassioned message met with ferocious opposition from the conservative elite of Mecca [Quraysh], who were enraged by its criticism of polytheistic practices and beliefs. Muhammad was forced to flee to [Medina] . . . ”
“Spiritual salvation would bring economic rewards. . . . believers would behold nothing less than Paradise, where gardens were fed by fresh and pure water, by ‘rivers of wine delectable to those that drink it, and rivers of clarified honey.’ ”
“This radical and impassioned message met with ferocious opposition from the conservative elite of Mecca [Quraysh], who were enraged by its criticism of polytheistic practices and beliefs. Muhammad was forced to flee to [Medina] . . . ”
 | Muhammad later established Mecca as the center of Islamic faith. “By confirming the Ka’ba [the focal point of the polytheistic, pagan religion in Arabia] as sacred, continuity was affirmed with the past, generating a powerful sense of cultural familiarity. [This also] diffused antagonism with the Quraysh to the point that senior members of the tribe pledged their allegiance to Muhammad—and to Islam.” “This was a faith designed for the local [Arab] populations, whether nomad or urban, whether members of one tribe or another, and regardless of ethnic or linguistic background. . . . Unity was a core tenet, and a major reason for Islam’s imminent success.” |
Muhammad extended this idea of unity by allying with Jews and Christians, “People of the Book,” against Rome and Persia. “The Qur-an makes plain that early Muslims saw themselves not as rivals of these two faiths but as heirs to the same legacy: Muhammad’s revelation had previously been ‘revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, To Isaac and Jacob and the tribes’ . . . the prophets of Judaism and Christianity were the same as those of Islam.”
At the height of the Muslim Empire, Rome and Persia were conquered, “Egypt and Mesopotamia had been linked to form the core of a new economic and political behemoth that stretched from the Himalayas through to the Atlantic. . . . Trade routes, oases, cities, and natural resources were targeted and subsumed. Ports that connected trade between the Persian Gulf and China were annexed, as were trans-Saharan trade routes . . . ”
At the height of the Muslim Empire, Rome and Persia were conquered, “Egypt and Mesopotamia had been linked to form the core of a new economic and political behemoth that stretched from the Himalayas through to the Atlantic. . . . Trade routes, oases, cities, and natural resources were targeted and subsumed. Ports that connected trade between the Persian Gulf and China were annexed, as were trans-Saharan trade routes . . . ”
Equally captivating was the genius of Genghis Khan, who united the Mongol tribes into the largest single land empire in history, stretching from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan. The authors says:
 | “Genghis Khan used violence selectively and deliberately. The sack of one city was calculated to encourage others to submit peacefully and quickly; theatrically gruesome deaths were used to persuade other rulers that it was better to negotiate than to offer resistance.” “Genghis Khan’s use of force was technically advanced, as well as strategically astute. To mount a lengthy siege on fortified targets was challenging and expensive because of the demands of sustaining a large mounted army whose need for pasture could quickly exhaust the surrounding region. For this reason, military technicians who could expedite a swift victory were highly valued. At Nishapur in 1221, [the Mongols used] 3,000 giant crossbows, . . . 3,000 stone hurling machines, and 700 projectors of incendiary material.” |
“As a matter of course, those who submitted or were conquered were dispersed across Mongol-controlled territory to weaken bonds of language, kinship, and identity and to aid the assimilation process. . . . All this in turn was reinforced by a centralized system of rewards where booty and tribute were shared out: proximity to the ruling dynasty counted for everything . . . ”
“Sensitive pricing and a deliberate policy of keeping taxes low were symptomatic of the bureaucratic nous of the Mongol Empire [encouraging trade]. In fact, the Mongols’ success lay not in indiscriminate brutality but in their willingness to compromise and cooperate . . . ”
“Sensitive pricing and a deliberate policy of keeping taxes low were symptomatic of the bureaucratic nous of the Mongol Empire [encouraging trade]. In fact, the Mongols’ success lay not in indiscriminate brutality but in their willingness to compromise and cooperate . . . ”
 | Europe, a relative backwater during most of antiquity, began asserting itself during the crusades. “The Crusade might be best remembered as a war of religion, but it was also the springboard for accruing serious wealth and power. . . . for all the rhetoric about knighthood being motivated by faith and piety, the reality was that self-interest, local rivalries, and squabbling were the order of the day.” “The Italian city-states were quick to grasp that the seizure of Jerusalem would open up exciting commercial possibilities. . . . Their hand was strengthened further by the Crusaders’ need to secure the littoral and ports such as Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, and Tripoli where maritime power [merchant ships] was essential in mounting a successful siege.” |
The impact of European colonialism on the Americas, Africa, and the Near East expand the story of greed and conquest on a global scale. “The age of empire and the rise of the west were built on the capacity to inflict violence on a major scale.”
 | “From the very outset, the local populations [in the Americas] were identified as potential slaves. Violence quickly became standard. On the island of Cuba in 1513, villagers who arrived to present the Spanish with gifts of food, fish, and bread ‘to the limit of their larder’ were massacred ‘without the slightest provocation,’ in the words of one dismayed observer.” |
Violence also characterized the African slave trade:
 | “Curious village elders and chieftains who marched out to meet those arriving from Europe were routinely butchered on the spot, their shields and spears taken as trophies for the king or crown prince.” “The African slave trade exploded in the fifteenth century . . . There was considerable demand for manpower to work on farms and plantations in Portugal . . . It was not long before the houses of the wealthy were described as ‘being full to overflowing of male and female slaves,’ allowing their owners to use their capital elsewhere and become even richer.” |
 | The wealth generated by colonial conquests fueled demand for luxury goods in Europe. “Gold and silver taken from the Americas found its way to Asia; it was this redistribution of wealth that enabled the Taj Mahal to be built. Not without irony, one of the glories of India was the result of the suffering of ‘Indians’ on the other side of the world.” |
Europe (and later the United States) exerted political sway whenever it suited their economic interests, continuing the oppression of colonialism:
After the First World War, the Middle East was divided: “New countries were created with boundaries that had nothing to do with history, geography, or the wishes of the people living there, but instead simply reflected the interests of Britain and France.”
Similarly, after World War Two, the interests of Europe and the United States drove western dominance in the region, propping up despotic rulers in the interest of securing access to oil—actions that continue to taint attitudes toward the west today.
After the First World War, the Middle East was divided: “New countries were created with boundaries that had nothing to do with history, geography, or the wishes of the people living there, but instead simply reflected the interests of Britain and France.”
Similarly, after World War Two, the interests of Europe and the United States drove western dominance in the region, propping up despotic rulers in the interest of securing access to oil—actions that continue to taint attitudes toward the west today.
 | A companion book written for children, The Silk Roads: An Illustrated New History of the World struck me as a tough read for kids, particularly the graphic passages highlighting gruesome wars. The book’s sophisticated themes, including self-serving political maneuvering, are only briefly outlined and would benefit from an adult perspective to help frame the events in a broader context. Neil Packer’s loosely drawn illustrations evoke the text throughout, adding to its emotional complexity—but could be disturbing to younger children. |
The closing line of this book for y0unger readers summed up author Peter Frankopan’s premise of both volumes: If history teaches us one lesson, it is that people are in fact often both resilient and practical when it comes to planning for a peaceful future. After all, stability goes hand in hand with prosperity, with tolerance, and with a world that allows each of us to flourish.
For more on Central Asia and international trade in the ancient world, read
The Scythians, Empire of Horses, The Wheel, the Horse, and Language,
and Surprising Gifts of Nomads
For more history on silk fabric, read: The Golden Thread
For more on Native American history in the US, read: The Broken Heart of America
The Scythians, Empire of Horses, The Wheel, the Horse, and Language,
and Surprising Gifts of Nomads
For more history on silk fabric, read: The Golden Thread
For more on Native American history in the US, read: The Broken Heart of America
