New Silk Roads

From the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling author of The Silk Roads: everything you need to know about the present and future of the world‘Masterly mapping out of a new world order’ Evening Standard'Frankopan is a brilliant guide to terra incognita' The TimesThe New Silk Roads – Peter Frankopan's follow-up to the 'Book of the Decade', The Silk Roads – takes a fresh look at the network of relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the Silk Roads today.The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties have been strengthened and mutual cooperation established.Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, The New Silk Roads provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. In this prescient contemporary history, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of these continual shifts in the centre of power – all too often absent from headlines in the west.This important – and ultimately hopeful – book asks us to reread who we are and where we are in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend.The Silk Roads, a major reassessment of world history, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Masterly mapping out of a new world order ... Peter Frankopan has gone up in the world since his bestselling Silk Roads history was published to great acclaim in 2015 – and deservedly so, I enjoyed The New Silk Roads. I learnt a great deal about recent developments in Central Asia and elsewhere. Frankopan is a brilliant guide to terra incognita, The book is diverting, eclectic and has serious intent. Its thesis that Eurasia is developing a sense of cohesion, largely powered by China’s restless ambition, is a sound one, Absorbing … One of the slightly dizzying effects of reading this book is realising the sheer amount of change that has taken place globally in just three years, Peter Frankopan has written as prescient a modern history as possible … Frankopan’s skill is that he able to step back a few more paces from the world map and global events than most modern commentators, whilst encouraging us to use history as a way of looking forward than regressing into the past

Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University where he is also Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World was published by Bloomsbury in 2015.