Empires of the Silk Road
A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present
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Narrated by:
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Jim Lee
About this listen
A classic book now available on audio
With narration by Jim Lee, who tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the Silk Road empires
The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization.
Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local peoples, and the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization.
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Critic reviews
"Winner of the 2009 PROSE Award in World History & Biography/Autobiography, Association of American Publishers"
"Christopher I. Beckwith, professor of Central Eurasian studies at Indiana University, suggests in his recent book, Empires of the Silk Road (Princeton University Press), that 'the most crucial element' of societies all through Central Eurasia—including the ones analyzed by this exhibition—was the 'sociopolitical-religious ideal of the heroic lord' and of a 'war band of his friends' that was attached to him and 'sworn to defend him to the death.' This idea, he suggests, affected the organization of early Islam as well as the structure of Tibetan Buddhist devotion. In fact, this 'shared political ideology across Eurasia,' Mr. Beckwith suggests, 'ensured nearly constant warfare.' The region's history is a history of competing empires; trade became part of what was later called the Great Game."—Edward Rothstein, New York Times
"[T]his is no mere survey. Beckwith systematically demolishes the almost universal presumption that the peoples and powers of Inner Asia were typically predatory raiders, and thus supplied themselves by extracting loot and tribute from more settled populations. . . . With his work, there is finally a fitting counterpart to Peter B. Golden's magnificently comprehensive An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East, based on Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Greek, Latin, and European medieval sources. By reading just two books anyone can now sort out Charlemagne's Avar Ring, the Golden Horde, modern Kazakhs and Uzbeks, ancient Scyths, Borodin's Polovtsian dances (they were Cumans), present-day Turks, Seljuks, Ottomans, early Turks, and Bulghars and Bulgarians, among many less familiar states or nations."—Edward Luttwak, New Republic
"[E]rudite and iconoclastic, [Empires of the Silk Road] provides a wealth of new ideas, perspectives, and information about the political and other formations that flourished in that large portion of the world known as Central Eurasia. . . . [A] major contribution to Central Eurasian and world history."—Nicola Di Cosmo, Journal of Global History
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- Narrated by: Anna Crowe
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek city-states, led by Athens and Sparta, laid the foundation for much of modern science, the arts, politics, and law. But the influence of the Greeks did not end with the rise and fall of this classical civilization. As historian Roderick Beaton illustrates, over three millennia Greek speakers produced a series of civilizations that were rooted in southeastern Europe but again and again ranged widely across the globe.
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An Ethnography of the Greeks
- By gmurphy92 on 03-27-22
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The Fall of Rome
- And the End of Civilization
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In The Fall of Rome, eminent historian Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the "peaceful" theory of Rome's "transformation" is badly in error. Indeed, he sees the fall of Rome as a time of horror and dislocation that destroyed a great civilization, throwing the inhabitants of the West back to a standard of living typical of prehistoric times. Attacking contemporary theories with relish and making use of modern archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans.
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best book ever on Fall of Rome
- By james m. on 01-30-22
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Central Asia
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Central Asia is often seen as a remote and inaccessible land on the peripheries of modern history. Encompassing Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Xinjiang province of China, it in fact stands at the crossroads of world events. Adeeb Khalid provides the first comprehensive history of Central Asia from the mid-18th century to today, shedding light on the historical forces that have shaped the region under imperial and Communist rule.
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Great History of a Forgotten Region
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The Birth of Classical Europe
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To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
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The Invention of Sicily
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- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
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Sicily has always acted as a gateway between Europe and the rest of the world. Fought over by the Phoenicians and Greeks, the Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, and the Spanish and the French for thousands of years, Sicily became a unique melting pot where diverse traditions merged, producing a unique heritage and singular culture. In this fascinating account of the island from the earliest times to the present day, author and journalist Jamie Mackay leads us through this most elusive of places.
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Wonderful overview of Sicily
- By jay lazier on 01-28-24
By: Jamie Mackay
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A Brief History of Korea
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- Unabridged
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Korea was one of the last countries in Asia to be visited by Westerners, and its borders have remained largely unchanged since it was unified in the seventh century. Though it is one of the world's oldest and most ethnically homogeneous states, Korea was not born in a vacuum. Geographically isolated, the country was heavily influenced by powerful China and was often used as a bridge to the mainland by Japan. Calling themselves as "a shrimp among whales", Koreans borrowed elements of government, culture, and religion, all the while fiercely fighting to maintain independence.
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Loved the historical context but ..
- By Kathy on 01-06-20
By: Michael J. Seth
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God's Shadow
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Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
- By Yosemite on 09-15-20
By: Alan Mikhail
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Arabs
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This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia.
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Good book bad narration
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Thebes
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Among the extensive writing available about the history of ancient Greece, there is precious little about the city-state of Thebes. At one point the most powerful city in ancient Greece, Thebes has been long overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Athens and Sparta. In Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece, acclaimed classicist and historian Paul Cartledge brings the city vividly to life and argues that it is central to our understanding of the ancient Greeks' achievements - whether politically or culturally.
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Why is this author considered an expert scholar of Ancient Greece?
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By: Paul Cartledge
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The Horde
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Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. Its unique political regime - a complex power-sharing arrangement among the khan and the nobility - rewarded skillful administrators and diplomats and fostered an economic order that was mobile, organized, and innovative.
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Golden Horde complete history, well done
- By Amazon Customer on 03-10-22
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Powers and Thrones
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When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era—and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names—from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine—Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes listeners on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West.
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Hard to take a break from it!
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Vanished Kingdoms
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There is something profoundly romantic about lost civilizations. Davies peers through the cracks in the mainstream accounts of modern-day states to dazzle us with extraordinary stories of barely remembered pasts, and of the traces they left behind. This is Norman Davies at his best: sweeping narrative history packed with unexpected insights. Vanished Kingdoms will appeal to all fans of unconventional and thought-provoking history, from listeners of Niall Ferguson to Jared Diamond.
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needs a good editor.
- By Ryan Anderson on 09-25-21
By: Norman Davies
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A Concise History of Spain
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This audiobook traces Spain's development from prehistoric times to the present, focusing particularly on culture, society, politics, and personalities. It introduces listeners to key themes that have shaped Spain's history and culture, including its varied landscapes and climates; the impact of waves of diverse human migrations; the importance of its location as a bridge between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and Europe and Africa; and religion, particularly militant Catholic Christianity and its centuries of conflict with Islam and Protestantism.
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Underwhelmed
- By Anonymous User on 02-20-20
By: William Phillips Jr., and others
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1217 charts the nascent sense of national identity that began to swell. Three key battles would determine England’s destiny. The fortress of Dover was besieged, the city of Lincoln was attacked, and a great invasion force set sail and, unusually for the time, was intercepted at sea. Catherine Hanley expertly navigates medieval siege warfare, royal politics, and fighting at sea to bring this remarkable period of English history to life.
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Excellent background for events around the time of Magna Carta
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What listeners say about Empires of the Silk Road
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- Anonymous User
- 12-04-23
the steppe peoples.
just an incredible recounting of some of the worlds most influential and important history, a region which in modern times is ignored and forgotten.
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- Heather Papadopoulos
- 03-22-23
Very informative history lesson and much appreciated.
I found this book to be very interesting and informative regarding the history of the Eurasia. As someone from Greek descent, the book opened my mind in unexpected ways. Thank you
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- jennifer
- 08-29-24
A detailed enjoyable history
I study Central Asia a lot , this was a very enjoyable narrative and historical retelling.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-14-23
A curious history of the Silk Road
This is an odd book if you follow it all the way to the end. It provides a glimpse into a region of the world whose history will be familiar to few. He makes an interesting case for the importance of Central Eurasia as an economic axis important from Atlantic to Pacific and in so doing, defines a number of cultural traits he argues form a cultural complex underpinning the unity of the region. Not all will find his cultural genealogies convincing, given the extended period covered by the book. This is particularly true of his placement of the Indoeuropeans as ancestral to Central Eurasian cultural complex. While certainly some of these cultures were I-E speakers, it is also true that cultures he places in opposition to Central Eurasia, such as the Mediterranean cultures, were also. This discussion would benefit from a more nuanced understanding of cultural genesis.
Yet covering several thousand years (from the proto-Indoeuropeans to the present day) in a relatively short text results in a raft of over-generalizations, on the one hand, and a lack of depth on the other. Much of the history devolves into the sort of depressing recitations of rulers and battles that puts many a student off history, without the necessary larger social picture. When he does take the time to discuss social and cultural history, the book shines, even though these are relatively brief. For instance, the pervasiveness and centrality of commitatus relations among elite warriors was particularly fascinating. Another difficulty for listeners is the many references to cities and territories that have long since vanished, so be forewarned: maps are a necessity but are not provided.
Late in the book, the author morphs into Dr. Grumpus, who has a beef with Western culture over the past 100 years, that is, with "modernity". What exactly his poor opinion of Picasso, Stravinsky, and virutally all other artists since 1900 have with the Silk Road remains unclear. He even gets in a dig at rock music. According to the author, they have all stopped producing "beauty", and they commit the crime of changing and growing. Nor is the reason for rehearsing in bullet points the history of the past two centuries apparent, since the Silk Road had been long undercut by emerging coastal trade, as he discusses in detail.
Even with the limited number of pages in this book, it is repetitive in its main points and perhaps is fighting prejudices that have all but evaporated among those who would read a book like this, as in the long concluding rant about barbarians and barbarism.
Despite these critiques, this is one of the few windows in English on a world and time period outside most mainstream histories, so your time will not be wasted.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-07-24
Unfocused and prone to tangents
I loved the author’s more recent book, “The Scythian Empire”, so I checked this one out as well. I found it generally less engaging, without much focus, but it is the last few chapters of the book that really made me want to write a review. The author goes on at great length about modernism and how damaging it is. Alright. But then he gets into very specifically modernism in the arts, and he completely abandons the discussion of the Central Eurasian peoples in favor of lamenting the death of beauty and art. First of all, as an artist, his assertions are frankly ridiculous and seem to come from an almost cloistered academic view of the world that discounts the reality on the ground and instead focuses on what academics are saying about the arts (and generalizing that as well). But more importantly, this is completely unrelated to the overall point of the book and feels kind of self indulgent and whiny. I don’t like to leave negative reviews, and the book was informative and had an interesting perspective overall, but this last chapter is really souring my taste.
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- Veronica
- 12-22-24
A great new perspective on central Asia
Perfectly narrated and new great perspective on central Asian. I love reading about Central Asia and this was one of the best books. I’ve read on the subject.
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