Jun 01, 2011 a more suitable title may have been the myth of the silk road or better still a comprehensive study of documents found along the silk road. In this richly imaginative novel, mingmei yipauthor of peach blossom pavilion and petals from the skyfollows one womans daunting journey along chinas fabled silk road. Dr sam willis traces the history and impact of the most famous trade route in the world. This book doesnt exactly give an opinion on silk road one way or the other but just advises the facts and lets you make up your own mind. Your browser does not currently recognize any of the video formats available. The silk road nhk tv series, 1980s joint chinesejapanese production.
So all you have to do is read on for enlightenment and learn about the silk road in detail before, during or after you set off on your travels. Questions for peter frankopan, author of the silk roads its been centuries since camel caravans crisscrossed eurasia along the silk roads. His work takes him on adventures all over the world. Chinas belt and road initiative is the most ambitious infrastructure project in modern history. Many varieties of silkspinning worms and insects are known, but the silkworm of commerce is the larva of the bombyx mori, or mulberry silkworm, and other closely related moths. Apr 26, 2017 silk road once reigned as the internets premier destination for drug deals and even more illicit fare. In the second episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, dr sam willis travels west to central asia, a part of the silk road often overlooked and yet the place of major innovations, big historical characters and a people the sogdians whose role was pivotal to its success. The temptation in writing any book subtitled a new history of the world is to be doggedly, defiantly. He is the author of the bestselling hearts of oak trilogy and the fighting ships series and has consulted on maritime history for many clients including the bbc,channel 4, nbc america and christies. In the first episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, dr sam willis starts in venice and explores how its renaissance architecture and art has been shaped by the east and by thousands of exchanges along the silk road. Feb 16, 2016 this provocative history challenges the view of the west as heir to a pure grecoroman culture.
Art, entertainment, and media films and television. Silk road once reigned as the internets premier destination for drug deals and even more illicit fare. We will be travelling in a huge variety of ways and in a huge variety of styles, from venice to beijing thats 5000 miles across countries. The silk road episode 1 2016 sam willis traces the story of the famous trade route. He explores venices renaissance architecture and art before travelling to the beginning of the silk road in chinas xian. Song of the silk road by mingmei yip nook book ebook. List of books and articles about silk road online research. Britains armed history documentary trailer dr sam willis bbc four. Wild silk is the product of the tussah worm of india and china, which. Perhaps most significant of all was the roads transmission of. The silk road uk tv series, a 2016 documentary by the bbc, in 3 episodes, presented by sam willis games edit silkroad online, a 2005 free multiplayer online game. The silk road is a 3 episode bbc tv documentary about the silk road, made in 2016 and shown on bbc4 it was presented by historian sam willis references.
Chinas trillion dollar plan to dominate global trade youtube. Sams work is coloured by his knowledge and experience of seamanship. As a girl growing up in hong kong, lily lin was captivated by photographs of the desertits long, lonely vistas and shifting sand dunes. Filming the silk road for bbc4 was one of the biggest challenges of my life. Read it if youre interested in the site and find out a.
Publications edit his first book, fighting at sea in the eighteenth century. China, tajikistan and uzbekistan all done and dusted, with the glory of the architecture of soviet bus shelters still firmly imprinted on my mind. Apr 29, 2016 in a new bbc four series dr sam willis reveals how the silk road was the worlds first global superhighway where people with new ideas, new cultures and new religions made exchanges that shaped humanity. I had been to none of the countries i was to visit. Samuel bruce adlam willis born 24 april 1977 is a british historian, television presenter and. In 2017 willis presented two other 3part tv series. Today, most people travel the silk road in a land rover. Weve dedicated this page to answering the question. A more suitable title may have been the myth of the silk road or better still a comprehensive study of documents found along the silk road. Books reading about the silk road asia central asia.
He has made twelve tv series for the bbc and national geographic, including the silk road, and has written fourteen books, most recently the struggle for sea power. As i am hoping to begin the silk road in the next couple of years probably starting at the chinese end and doing it in segments over time i am interested read whatever looks promising. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. Reviews on the silk roads were generally positive and were published by the guardian, the independent, the telegraph, the times. Here, willis tells bbc history magazines tv editor, jonathan wright, about the series, about his experiences travelling to places that were once among the.
F ifty years ago, in that faroff time before the world wide web spun itself around our lives, it was easier to. Drawing on prodigious sources, frankopan the first crusade. Sam willis start in venice and explores how its renaissance architecture and art has been shaped by the east and by thousands of exchanges. He has published fourteen books and numerous academic articles on. Books to read about the silk road guide for seniors. In 2016 the bbc broadcast the silk road, a series following williss journey from. This book is not as advertised a new history of the world, but rather a view of the economic impact of trade on the western world. Read it if youre interested in the site and find out a bit of the dark web to boot. In the final episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, dr sam willis continues his journey west in iran. Youre not quite there on the silk road the same way gibbon put you in the roman agora. But as the web site became a billiondollar enterprise, its creator, ross ulbricht, went.
For frankopan, the brutish west owes its more enlightened traditions to the lands east of italy and west of china, which were, for centuries, the centre of the world. May 16, 2015 the silk road, or silk route, is a network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the asian continent connecting the west and east. Silk road takes you from the beginnings of the site right through to the end. The silk road japanese tv series, a 1980 documentary produced by japans nhk the silk road, a 1988 japanese film. Visiting marco polos house, sam reminds us how the great travellers book was one of the first to link east to west and how the ideas and products that trickled down the silk road not only helped to trigger the renaissance, but set europe on a path of unstoppable change. I was watching silk road on bbc4 and the presenter sam willis was using a rather nice instant camera to take photos for his journal. Feb 16, 2016 throughout history, central asia has been a nexus of burgeoning trade in goods, people, and ideas. May 15, 2016 in the second episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, dr sam willis travels west to central asia, a part of the silk road often overlooked and yet the place of major innovations, big historical characters and a people the sogdians whose role was pivotal to its success. The silk road is a 3 episode bbc tv documentary about the silk road, made in 2016 and shown on bbc4.
Silkroad online, a 2005 free multiplayer online game. The art of sailing warfare was based on his phd thesis and was a revisionist study of the history of tactics in the age of sail. Using supply and demand as the framework for analysing the formation and development of the silk road, the book examines the dynamics of the interactions of the nomadic pastoralists with sedentary agriculturalists, and the spread of new ideas, religions, and values into the world of commerce, thus illustrating the cultural forces underlying. But as the web site became a billiondollar enterprise, its. Sam s work is coloured by his knowledge and experience of seamanship. It spans over 60 countries and will cost over a trillion dollars. Dr sam willis is one of the countrys bestknown historians.
The venetian writer, trader, and explorer marco polo travelled the silk road more than seven hundred years ago. Publications his first book, fighting at sea in the eighteenth century. It flows through the heart of asia, but it has officially vanished leaving behind the pattern of its restlessness. Shadow of the silk road is a travel book, not a novel with a plot, and the enjoyment of reading it lies in the details of every traveler, every situation and every town thubron experiences along the way. Histories of the unexpected not only presents a new way of thinking about the past, but.
The experiences add up to an interesting portrait of lands and people not well known or appreciated for all the twists of fate history has dealt them. Apr 05, 2018 chinas belt and road initiative is the most ambitious infrastructure project in modern history. Silk was not the most important good on the road paper, invented in china before julius caesar was born, had a bigger impact in europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Here, willis tells bbc history magazines tv editor, jonathan wright, about the series, about his experiences travelling to places that were once among the most connected and cosmopolitan in. The silk road uk tv series, a 2016 documentary by the bbc, in 3 episodes, presented by sam willis.
A new history of the world, by peter frankopan, bloomsbury, rrp. The liu book also has some internet links about the silk roads culture which might be of interest and so i will add those. Author division sam willis is composed of at least 1 distinct authors, divided by their works. The experiences add up to an interesting portrait of lands and people not well known or appreciated for all the twists of fate history has. Sep 29, 2015 the ancient silk road winds into the shah foladi valley near bamiyan in afghanistan. Sam willis reveals how the silk road was the worlds first global superhighway where people with new ideas, new cultures and new religions made exchanges that shaped humanity. Chinas trillion dollar plan to dominate global trade. In june 2016 the silk roads was chosen to be the waterstones non fiction book of the month. Its one of very, very few books from any culture that takes global trade as a whole, without being biased towards one culture or. Throughout history, central asia has been a nexus of burgeoning trade in goods, people, and ideas. Even this would be slightly misleading as a majority of the book focuses on the history of a few cities on the edge of the chinese sphere of influence. In a new bbc four series dr sam willis reveals how the silk road. The silk road, or silk route, is a network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the asian continent connecting the west and east.
From venice sam travels to chinas ancient capital, xian. We read here about his expedition but no analysis relating to the silk road at all. The royal navy vs the world, 17751782 and the spanish armada, a ladybird expert. Maritime silk road reborn for national geographic and invasion. The first bbc documentary team to be granted entry. Historian dr sam willis travels the most famous trade route in history, the silk road. The silk road, a series of ancient trade routes stretching across central asia to europe, evokes exotic images of camel trains laden with bales of fine chinese silk, spices, and perfume, of desert oases surrounded by snowcapped mountains, of bustling markets thronging with travellers buying and selling grapes, coriander, baltic amber, and mediterranean coral.
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