The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

Apparently I didn't read the blurb too closely before downloading this book.  Presuming the topic of the book was the ancient crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Far East, I somehow missed that last "s" at the end of the title.

Instead, the book posits that Central Asia, the stretch broadly between the Mediterranean and the Himalayas, has been the center of the world since almost the beginning of recorded history.  Frankopan makes a strong case.

And he makes the case in contrast to the wide, current misconception of most Westerners that the center of the world has - at least for the last millennium or so - rested somewhere between Europe and North America.  Debunking the idea that civilization started in the East and has gradually, consistently moved West is perhaps the purpose of the book.

Frankopan tells the history of the world largely from the perspective of Central Asia (paying minimal attention to South America, Africa and even China and Southeast Asia), describing the varied trafficking of goods through Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Caucuses, Steppes, Afghanistan and India over the course of history.  Going far beyond the "classic" story of the Silk Road, he brings to light Silk Roads I didn't even know about, for example the widespread trade of slaves from northern Europe and Russia to the Ottomans - from where, in fact, the word "Slavs" is derived.

He points out that Rome moved its capital eastward to create Constantinople.  The most powerful civilization up to that time contradicted the modern assumption that power always moves westward.

The last third of the book or so is devoted to the discovery of oil riches across Persia and the middle east from the second half of the 19th century, and how it transformed the region.  Although not dethroning the United States from its economic dominance, oil returned a dramatic level of wealth and power back to its "rightful" place between the Mediterranean and the Himalayas, a shift which continues today with the rapid development of places like Dubai and the UAE.  Just one more example of power shifting back to the east.

The biggest contradiction to Frankopan's theory is the rise of China and Asia over the last few decades.  It doesn't square with his conception of Central Asia as the center of the world.

But I learned a tremendous amount via this interesting, sweeping retelling of the history of the world.