The No. 1 Sunday Times and international bestseller - a major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging east For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture - and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east.

Most people can name the influential leaders and major battles of the past. Few can name the most destructive storms, the worst winters, the most devastating droughts. In The Earth Transformed, ground-breaking historian Peter Frankopan shows that engagement with the natural world and with climatic change and their effects on us are not new: exploring, for instance, the development of religion and language and their relationships with the environment; tracing how growing demands for harvests resulted in the increased shipment of enslaved peoples; scrutinising how the desire to centralise agricultural surplus formed the origins of the bureaucratic state; and seeing how efforts to understand and manipulate the weather have a long and deep history. Understanding how past shifts in natural patterns have shaped history, and how our own species has shaped terrestrial, marine and atmospheric conditions is not just important but essential at a time of growing awareness of the severity of the climate crisis. Taking us from the Big Bang to the present day, The Earth Transformed forces us to reckon with humankind's continuing efforts to make sense of the natural world.

The New Silk Roads takes a fresh look at the relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the ancient trade routes 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 are being strengthened and mutual cooperation established.

This prescient contemporary history provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of continual shifts in the centre of power – all too often absent from headlines in the west.

The New Silk Roads asks us to re-examine who we are and where we stand 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.

'Spellbinding ... a pitch-perfect treasure' LoveReading4Kids Set your sails east with this stunningly original new history of the world. Peter Frankopan, number one bestselling author and historian, explores the connections made by people, trade, disease, war, religion, adventure, science and technology in this extraordinary book about how the east married the west with a remarkable voyage at its heart - the journey along the Silk Roads. From ancient world laws laid down by King Hammurabi and the mighty Persian empire, to terrifying huns, the rise of Europe, two world wars and politics today, The Silk Roads illustrated edition moves through time and history sewing together the threads from different peoples, empires and continents into a phenomenal history of the globe. With stories from each and every corner of society, Frankopan's magnificent brand new text based on his literary triumph The Silk Roads, sumptuously illustrated by Neil Packer, is a must-have world history. 'An extraordinarily vivid book on an often-neglected corner of history' Inis Reading Guide 'Not just children, but people of any age will find this book an absorbing read' New York Journal of Books 'Peter Frankopan's text is pitched at exactly the right level for children to read and for adults to share with them. The illustrations of Neil Packer are completely captivating ... this is a perfect marriage and a book to treasure' Armadillo magazine 'Studded with stylish, evocative illustrations from Neil Packer ... this is an ambitious account that nevertheless tackles big themes in a friendly, accessible way' History Revealed magazine

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 Times The 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.

For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture - and is shaping the modern world. This region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilization itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. Along them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia. The Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east.

Most people can name the influential leaders and major battles of the past. Few can name the most destructive storms, the worst winters, the most devastating droughts. In The Earth Transformed, ground-breaking historian Peter Frankopan shows that engagement with the natural world and with climatic change and their effects on us are not new: exploring, for instance, the development of religion and language and their relationships with the environment; tracing how growing demands for harvests resulted in the increased shipment of enslaved peoples; scrutinising how the desire to centralise agricultural surplus formed the origins of the bureaucratic state; and seeing how efforts to understand and manipulate the weather have a long and deep history. Understanding how past shifts in natural patterns have shaped history, and how our own species has shaped terrestrial, marine and atmospheric conditions is not just important but essential at a time of growing awareness of the severity of the climate crisis. Taking us from the Big Bang to the present day, The Earth Transformed forces us to reckon with humankind's continuing efforts to make sense of the natural world.

A Chronology of the Crusades provides a day-by-day development of the Crusading movement, the Crusades and the states created by them through the medieval period. Beginning in the run-up to the First Crusade in 1095, to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and ending with the Turkish attack on Belgrade in 1456, this reference is a comprehensive guide to the events of each Crusade, concentrating on the Near East, but also those Christian expeditions sanctioned by the Papacy as 'Crusades' in the medieval era. As well as clashes between Christians and Muslims in the Latin States, Timothy Venning also chronicles the Albigensian Crusade, clashes in Anatolia and the Balkans and the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula. Both detailed and accessible, this chronology draws together material from contemporary Latin/Frankish, Byzantine and Arab/Muslim sources with assessment and explanation to produce a readable narrative which gives students an in-depth overview of one of the most enduringly fascinating periods in medieval history. Including an introduction by Peter Frankopan which summarises and contextualises the period, this book is an essential resource for students and academics alike.

A Chronology of the Crusades provides a day-by-day development of the Crusading movement, the Crusades and the states created by them through the medieval period. Beginning in the run-up to the First Crusade in 1095, to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and ending with the Turkish attack on Belgrade in 1456, this reference is a comprehensive guide to the events of each Crusade, concentrating on the Near East, but also those Christian expeditions sanctioned by the Papacy as 'Crusades' in the medieval era. As well as clashes between Christians and Muslims in the Latin States, Timothy Venning also chronicles the Albigensian Crusade, clashes in Anatolia and the Balkans and the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula. Both detailed and accessible, this chronology draws together material from contemporary Latin/Frankish, Byzantine and Arab/Muslim sources with assessment and explanation to produce a readable narrative which gives students an in-depth overview of one of the most enduringly fascinating periods in medieval history. Including an introduction by Peter Frankopan which summarises and contextualises the period, this book is an essential resource for students and academics alike.

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SILK ROADS 'Filled with Byzantine intrigue, in every sense this book is important, compellingly revisionist and impressive in its scholarly use of totally fresh sources' Simon Sebag Montefiore In 1096, an expedition of extraordinary scale and ambition set off from Western Europe on a mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Three years later, after a journey which saw acute hardship, the most severe dangers and thousands of casualties, the knights of the First Crusade found themselves storming the fortifications and capturing the Holy City. Against all the odds, the expedition had returned Jerusalem to Christian hands. In 'the most significant contribution to rethinking the origins and course of the First Crusade for a generation' (Mark Whittow, TLS), Frankopan paints a strikingly original picture of this infamous confrontation between Christianity and Islam. Focusing on Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, a truly fresh interpretation of a very old story emerges that radically alters our understanding of the entire crusade movement.

Written between 1143 and 1153 by the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, The Alexiad is one of the most popular and revealing primary sources in the vast canon of medieval literature. Princess Anna Komnene, eldest child of the imperial couple, reveals the inner workings of the court, profiles its many extraordinary personages, and offers a firsthand account of immensely significant events such as the First Crusade, as well as its impact on the relationship between eastern and western Christianity. A celebrated triumph of Byzantine letters, this is an unparalleled view of Constantinople and the medieval world. This Penguin Classics edition is based on E. R. A. Sewter's renowned translation, revised by Peter Frankopan. It also includes an introduction, notes and other critical apparatus by Frankopan.

According to tradition, the First Crusade began at the instigation of Pope Urban II and culminated in July 1099, when thousands of western European knights liberated Jerusalem from the rising menace of Islam. But what if the First Crusade's real catalyst lay far to the east of Rome? In this groundbreaking book, countering nearly a millennium of scholarship, Peter Frankopan reveals the untold history of the First Crusade. Nearly all historians of the First Crusade focus on the papacy and its willing warriors in the West, along with innumerable popular tales of bravery, tragedy, and resilience. In sharp contrast, Frankopan examines events from the East, in particular from Constantinople, seat of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The result is revelatory. The true instigator of the First Crusade, we see, was the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who in 1095, with his realm under siege from the Turks and on the point of collapse, begged the pope for military support. Basing his account on long-ignored eastern sources, Frankopan also gives a provocative and highly original explanation of the world-changing events that followed the First Crusade. The Vatican's victory cemented papal power, while Constantinople, the heart of the still-vital Byzantine Empire, never recovered. As a result, both Alexios and Byzantium were consigned to the margins of history. From Frankopan's revolutionary work, we gain a more faithful understanding of the way the taking of Jerusalem set the stage for western Europe's dominance up to the present day and shaped the modern world.