Status Updates From The Silk Roads: A New Histo...

Okay, this author is brilliant. His transitions and introductions are so seamless that it honestly took me until just now to understand them. Using a change in principal commodity to signify a shift in power or time is so incredibly smart that my little brain only just now understood. Anyway, we are at the brink of the Crusades - where geopolitical power is teetering in the direction of the west.

Pretty cool to read about the unification of about 25 nomadic tribes on the steppes into Khazar. Also cool how the khagan summoned representatives each from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faith and made them present the virtues of their respective religions. He chose Judaism and immediately circumcised himself. Crazy. Also... we have officially been introduced to the Vikings! But not for good reason...

Listening to "Iranian instrumental chillout" music and reading about the origin, spread, and rule of Islam. Their technique, at least initially, for conquering territory is interesting: let people believe what they believe and tax them (basically). There wasn't much focus on the schism within Islam, which was okay because we had other, more global, topics to touch on.

The author did a great job of setting the scene for the birth of Islam. The context of how the Türks, Romans, and Persians fighting one another led to the fragmentation that allowed Islam to dominate was well done. I do wish this author bothered to use the Oxford comma, though...

I feel so incredibly stupid for never having considered that Christianity was ever so widespread in Asia. Also, this book needs to come with a map! The author does a great job of zigging and zagging narratively, but my puny brain gets lost at times. I'm also so incredibly intrigued by these caves for deity worship. Awe-some how dedicated those people were to their beliefs to chisel out of stone a shrine.

I've always wanted to learn more about Zoroastrianism, honestly. Also I'm SO taken by the Qyzyl caves in China. There are hardly any photos on the Internet, but what I can see are fascinating. There are so many places talked about in this book that I'd like to visit... but I fear current geopolitics make that difficult.

(01/05/2026)

Restarting from my first attempt in either 2020 or 2021. Really enjoyed my detour to the realm of fiction but am eager to read about world history. So far very dense and first chapter was a real crash course, but I'm looking forward to more specifics!