Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present

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Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 74 ratings · 19 reviews

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 Tibet...more

ebook, 504 pages

Published April 21st 2011 by Princeton University Press (first published March 1st 2009)

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Mar 06, 2012 Rindis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

Late last year, I picked this book up, as it looked very interesting.

And it is, I highly recommend it as an extremely well done history of a part of the world that most people just don't know about from pre-history to the current date.

But—this book is not for the faint of heart. If you want some light informative reading, you will find the book overwhelming.

This especially holds true in the prologue and first two chapters of the book, where the footnotes and endnote references fly thick and furi...more Late last year, I picked this book up, as it looked very interesting.

And it is, I highly recommend it as an extremely well done history of a part of the world that most people just don't know about from pre-history to the current date.

But—this book is not for the faint of heart. If you want some light informative reading, you will find the book overwhelming.

This especially holds true in the prologue and first two chapters of the book, where the footnotes and endnote references fly thick and furious. With all the flipping back and forth, and integrating the three different bits of text together, it can take over a quarter hour to get through two pages.

The reason for this is that for the early parts of the book, Beckwith is an expert holding forth on the more obscure parts of his field of expertise. He is well aware that almost everything he has to talk about hinges on specialized knowledge, and the footnotes and endnotes contain clarifications, and when he argues against the conventional interpretation, the general line of logic that leads to his conclusion.

That said, he does make some assumptions of knowledge. If you don't know about linguistic reconstruction (and I'm lucky that I've run across it before), you'll be wondering just what he's talking about at many points, and what all those stars in front of words mean (which is a symbol for deduced, but not attested form of a word). As it is, many of the notes, and all of Appendix B, go pretty heavily into the field, and there are pronunciation glyphs I've never seen before.

Speaking of Appendixes, there are two of them, to go with voluminous endnotes, a Prologue, and a Epilogue. Appendix B goes into the reconstruction of the names of various peoples from Chinese sources, working out likely earlier forms of the names, and where those names can be equated with names in non-Chinese sources. Appendix A goes into his reconstruction of the initial diaspora of the Indo-European people, and the initial branching off of Proto-Indo-European into daughter families. I recommend reading it before Chapter 1, and Appendix B before Chapter 2, as they are heavily referenced in those sections. The Prologue is concerned with the "First Story", which is a story cycle common to many Indo-European cultures (including the Romans) as a hero/foundation myth. The Epilogue is about the concept of 'barbarians' and how the modern conception of such is not only inappropriate to an understanding of the peoples of Central Eurasia (as he takes pains to point out during the book), but is inappropriate to an understanding of the original term, and some of original sources, but is especially inappropriate to use with Chinese sources, where several different terms for 'foreigner' that have little or no pejorative implications, are usually translated into English as 'a kind of barbarian'.

The main part of the book is a history of Central Eurasia, or, more properly, the "Central Eurasian Culture Complex". This history is delineated by broad cultural borders that change over time, not geographical ones.

I have to admit that there are large sections of the book where I am an unarmed man against some of his assertions. In general, I think his construction of pre- and early history are sound, but I don't know enough to raise many objections. My main problem is that he seems to be a bit too strong of a Diffusionist for my tastes, asserting that the chariot was only invented by the Indo-Europeans, and allowed them to impose themselves on the various peripheral cultures.

The bulk of his book spends some time pointing the importance of trade, and the fact it is generally the peripheral civilizations that try to restrict trade, and the Central Eurasian civilizations often attack with the stated demand of opening up trade again. The Age of Exploration is looked in the light of one trade system (the Silk Road) being replaced by another (the Littoral System), with the current backwardness of the area resulting from the collapse of trade in the area.

The last couple chapters turn into a screed against Modernism. Again, I'm largely mentally unarmed against his assertions, but I judge he paints with entirely too broad a brush. He sees Modernism not just as a new movement that overthrew previous traditions, but as a movement that relies on overthrowing the old, and therefore has led intellectual life down the blind alley of continual revolution without trying to move forward with the results of any of those revolutions. He then ties that into to efforts of "Modernist" regimes to destroy the cultural past (as examples, the Soviet efforts to destroy religious community and the Taliban's destruction of Buddhist monuments in Afghanistan).

Again, I do highly recommend the book. I have some potential problems with it, but it is far more important than those problems. I would certainly like to hear from people who can talk to my concerns better than I can, but in the end it's biases are fairly clear, and the value of a history that ties together the events of such a large area ranks very high, also the bulk of the most interesting points of the book have not been touched on by me here. Finally, the notes do a valuable service in pointing out places where further scholarly study are desperately needed, and I hope that some of these gaps are directly addressed in the future.(less)

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Aug 01, 2009 Larrycarlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an excellent history, not just another retelling. The focus is on the history of the peoples of Central Eurasia and their interaction with the "peripheral" countries such as China and France. The story starts far back in early prehistoric times with the proto-indo-europeans and comes up to the 21st century. And it's clear that Beckwith sees the large picture.
That said, there is a strange interlude, near the end, trashing Modernism. It's strange for several reasons. First, it's only losel...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Adam Calhoun rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although interesting at times, this book is not quite what it sets itself out to be. Rather than a history of Central Eurasia per se, it is actually a history of ALL of Eurasia, with a slight focus on the central bit, spanning the bronze age to the present. If that seems rather broad, well, it is. Beckwith does a good job laying out the importance of Central Eurasia to world history, and I definitely came away with a better understanding of the region and its connections to the rest of the globe...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up at the library figuring I'd just read the parts I was immediately interested in (the history of the early steppe peoples), but to my surprise I found myself reading the entire thing.

This isn't exactly a straightforward narrative history of the region - or maybe it's more accurate to say that the author doesn't fill in all the gaps for a nonspecialist like me. No matter: I came away from the book with a much improved sense of the history of Central Eurasia, which is more th...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Shalom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, history

I would have given this four stars (I reserve five for extraordinary works) if not for the weird 30 page diatribe against modernism taword the end which was so out there and not connected that I began to question all else that was written. Besides for that however it was an interesting broad history which attempts to pull central asia from the periphery of know empires and place it at the center of well... asia. The author seemed a little too apologetic for the central asians and too demonizing...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Helen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

A good book reviewing (in short) the history of all kinds of societies located between Danube and China, starting from 2,000 BCE.

What is unusual, he treats people of this vast region with respect, as human beings equal to living in any other part of the planet - appreciate that.

I was looking for a book starting with much earlier period, but found this one and expected, judging by the title, more southern coverage. Glad that it was more encyclopedic.

But again, I was looking for forces shaping so...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Lee Broderick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I had the good fortune to discuss this book with one of the author's colleagues while I was reading it. He informed me of two criticisms commonly levelled at it: the first is that it is over-reliant on the Chinese sources when, thanks to the author's command of several other languages, there is no need for it to be. I would not have known that without our conversation. The second common criticism was immediately apparent to me: a complete failure to include any archaeological evidence (of which...more I had the good fortune to discuss this book with one of the author's colleagues while I was reading it. He informed me of two criticisms commonly levelled at it: the first is that it is over-reliant on the Chinese sources when, thanks to the author's command of several other languages, there is no need for it to be. I would not have known that without our conversation. The second common criticism was immediately apparent to me: a complete failure to include any archaeological evidence (of which there is an increasing ammount) in his narrative.

I used the word "narrative" deliberately: this is a grand narrative, in the full sense of traditional history writing. It does, in addition to its historical sources, make much use of linguistic resarch and places Central Asia quite properly at the centre of Eurasian culture and commerce. As anyone even vaguely familiar with European or Asian history will know, this is an idea that has been neglected for a considerable amount of time - for most of modern scholarship in fact - and this book occupies an exalted position amongst a growing library of work which seeks to rehabilitate the region in world history.

Where the book takes a strictly chronological structure, it begins to unravel in the penultimate chapter, covering the twentieth century. Here, the author's occasional political preaching (apparent at points throughout the text) is allowed to take over in his treatment of the twentieth century and develops into a bizarre, and somewhat out of place, rant against Modernism. This is then developed in the final chapter which looks to see what the future may hold for Central Asia, surely an unwise inclusion for any historian?

Just when the book appears to be at its most peculiar and infuriting though, a lengthy epilogue is included, summarising our knowledge of Central Eurasian history. This epilogue is worth the price of the book alone and should be required reading for any Central Asianist, containing some very useful ideas and reviews.(less)

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Sep 05, 2011 Geoff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nonfiction

I was very excited when I saw this book at the bookstore, as central Asia is a region I know little about and have for some time thought I should study more. I was hoping for a work targeted to a general audience. This was not that; it seems to fall somewhere between popular and scholarly writing, which made it accessible but mildly challenging for me to read. A few maps would have gone a long way for me, and a bit of context for understanding who some of the lesser-known (to nonspecialists) his...more I was very excited when I saw this book at the bookstore, as central Asia is a region I know little about and have for some time thought I should study more. I was hoping for a work targeted to a general audience. This was not that; it seems to fall somewhere between popular and scholarly writing, which made it accessible but mildly challenging for me to read. A few maps would have gone a long way for me, and a bit of context for understanding who some of the lesser-known (to nonspecialists) historical peoples of Central Eurasia were. However, I can't fault the book for not being the nonspecialist's introduction I was hoping for. As it was, I certainly learned a lot about central Asia, and I think I now have a better framework for future learning in this area.

From the history most of us learn in school (at least in the U.S.), the societies of Central Eurasia are seen as barbarians, almost like forces of nature that sometimes appear mysteriously to invade the civilizations we study (Greece, Rome, and maybe China if we're lucky) and wreak havoc on them. They are warrior-people, violent for the love of violence. Here, Beckwith makes it clear they are societies like any other, and perhaps generally less aggressive than their "civilized" neighbors. According to him, the dominant interaction between Central Eurasian societies and their neighbors is trade, rather than warfare, and certain features of Central Eurasian culture (particularly the "comitatus," a band of warriors loyal to a ruler who receive special, but expensive, favors from him) demanded constant trade for rare imported luxury goods from neighboring societies. Central Eurasians went to war primarily when their neighbors closed off trading access.

A peculiar quirk about this book is Beckwith's occasional departures, particularly near the end, to go on long screeds against Modernism and Postmodernism. I found these rants quite entertaining, but their relationship to the rest of the book was unclear. The preface contains one of the most enjoyable takedowns of Postmodernism I've ever read, and this definitely played a role in my choice to buy the book. However, the later attack on Modernism toward the end of the book, while rooted in a discussion of Modernism's negative impact on 20th and 21st century Central Eurasian culture, took some peculiar departures to rail against Modernism in art, and seemed to ignore all art forms other than "high art." I've heard some modern music out of Kazakhstan, fusing Western rock with traditional styles, and it's pretty damn cool (check out Roksonaki if you're interested); it seems that musical culture in this region, at least, is still vibrant and innovative. That said, these departures don't detract from the scholarship in the rest of the book, and are easily skipped (though entertaining enough in their own right to be worth reading anyway).

The only apparent flaw to me in reading this is Beckwith's obviously sympathetic treatment of Central Eurasian societies with respect to their interactions with their neighbors. Some of this is evidently in response to the overwhelmingly negative treatment of Central Eurasians among his colleagues, but it does suggest that his viewpoint may not be altogether unbiased. Nevertheless, good information about the history of this part of the world seems so difficult to find that the sympathetic bias of those studying it is easy to forgive. Hopefully, as Beckwith implores in the preface to this book, more scholars will be attracted to study the history of this region, and as the body of scholarship grows, a more neutral viewpoint will emerge. And hopefully those scholars will be able to avoid being seduced by the Postmodernism that Beckwith hates so much!(less)

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Jul 22, 2010 Robin Tell is currently reading it · review of another edition

Well, I've read the preface, and it's clear the author is a bit of a prat. I've seen a few reviews around that warned of this. I'm reading it on a Kindle, which is a bit of an experiment--this is a hand-me-down first edition Kindle with a bum scroll wheel, so it's prohibitively difficult to skip in and out of footnotes. Also, the Kindle makes it a pain to skip over things like the preface. Or the bloody acknowledgements. But maybe it's just as well I read the preface.

Mr. Beckwith talks about him...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Bryn Hammond rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steppe-history, website-widget

This book is a like a bomb thrown in the steppe cause. It goes off messily, but messy's what you need, arguably, when the cause is down and out, when you want to start a revolution. The giant prologue and epilogue are where the genius lies.

He's written a much more scholarly book too, he's not always a bomb-throwing leftie. Though the scholarly one is quietly revolutionary itself.

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Aug 31, 2009 JW added it · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up

I'm so far out of the intended audience for this book that I'm not going to rate it. I found out about it in the NY Times books section and I was immediately intrigued, Central Asia is not a part of the world I understand very well but one I've always been intensely curious about.

This book is not a primer for those exploring the area. This is an assault in a scholarly knife fight. It assumes you've got a level of prerequisite knowledge in the presently accepted history of the area and I clearly...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Keep coming back for things I previously missed. A great introduction for those new to the region and still useful to those not so new in its original thesis about re-orienting the center of the civilizations we study to those often left behind by scholars.

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Nov 13, 2011 Pascal is currently reading it · review of another edition

Great overview of the movement of religion!

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May 01, 2010 Ike rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Generally good. Considerably more academic than much of what I had read on the subject. Was probably ruined for me by a two chapter long anti-Modernism rant, which was barely tied into the subject matter. Lots of historical and prehistorical linguistics. Yay!

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Jan 19, 2010 Lorie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would definitely put this in the 'academic' book catagory. As interested in this period as I am, it really got heavy into the academic side of things.

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Jul 27, 2012 Nazila Khalkhali rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

It was a long time I looked for a book about Silk Road. I read it last January during my trip to Connecticut and I was fascinated. the writer talks about the civilization of the whole silk roads territory, means Central Euro-Asian heartland. I think the subtitle explains the content : A History of Central Euroasia from the Bronze Age to the Present.

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May 25, 2012 Sid rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: barbarians

I really enjoyed the topic, but parts of this book were a little difficult to get through while some parts were good. Overall, I definitely broadened my understanding of this part of the world. In fact, my conceptual map of the world (that I keep inside my head) was altered considerably after reading this book.

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Dec 20, 2009 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mongolia, central-eurasia

There was a great deal more slogging through names and dates than I had expected, but the random insights in his analyses of the various eras and groups were worth the effort. The final chapter on the "myth" of the barbarian was worth the price of the book itself.

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Sep 07, 2012 Arkadagy Saparshy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Shelves: kyrgyzstan

Apr 14, 2013 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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