The Silk Roads

The axis of history writing seemed to shift east with Frankopan's sweeping history, which placed the Silk Road at the very centre of world events -- Books of the Decade * Sunday Times *
Many books have been written which claim to be “A New History of the World”. This one fully deserves the title . . . It is difficult, in a short review, to do justice to a book so ambitious, so detailed and so fascinating as this one -- Gerald DeGroot * The Times *
A book that roves as widely as the geography it describes, encompassing worlds as far removed as those of Herodotus and Saddam Hussein, Hammurabi and Hitler . . . It is a tribute to Frankopan’s scholarship and mastery of sources in multiple languages that he is as sure-footed on the ancient world as he is on the medieval and modern -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *
My book of the year: history on a grand scale, with a sweep of ambition that is rare . . . A remarkable book on many levels, and one that anyone would have been proud to write: a proper historical epic of dazzling range, ambition and achievement -- William Dalrymple * Observer *
The most illuminating book of the year . . . A healthy antidote to Eurocentric accounts of history -- Books of the Year * Times Literary Supplement *
Splendid . . . tightly researched . . . invigorating and profound with enough storytelling to excite the reader and enough fresh scholarship to satisfy the intellect . . . charismatic and essential -- Bettany Hughes * Daily Telegraph *
A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world * Wall Street Journal *
Dazzlingly good * Evening Standard *
Based on astonishingly wide and deep reading and in all areas draws on the latest research . . . It is full of vivid and recondite details * Independent *
Full of intriguing insights and fascinating details * Observer *
With extraordinary erudition and a vivid style, he takes us on a dazzling tour of these parts from the rise of the first empires right through to the present * Open (Weekly) *
Beautifully constructed, a terrific and exhilarating read and a new perspective on world history -- Averil Cameron * History Today *
As well-written, entertaining, disturbing and exciting as a detective story * Svenska Dagbladet *
A dazzling piece of historical writing * South China Morning Post *
This book lives up to its claim to be a new history of the world because of its geopolitical paradigm shift . . . He is a Herodotus of the twenty first century * Irish Left Review *
Monumental . . . prodigious . . . astonishing. Frankopan is an exhilarating companion 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 *
An exceptional storyteller . . . Frankopan does a superb job of explaining the history that has led to this modern era of new Silk Roads running across “the spine of Asia.” . . . Frankopan’s book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to make sense of this union of past and present * Dallas Morning News *
Sumptuous, intriguing and surprising -- Sir Paddy Ashdown
A big book like this would have taken the whole year to read if I had followed up every reference that piqued my interest -- Readers' Books of the Year 2016 * Guardian *