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From the Great Game to the present, an international cultural and political biography of one of our most evocative, compelling, and poorly understood narratives of history.The Silk Road is rapidly becoming one of the key geocultural and geostrategic concepts of the twenty-first century. Yet, for much of the twentieth century the Silk Road received little attention, overshadowed by nationalism and its invented pasts, and a world
dominated by conflict and Cold War standoffs. In The Silk Road, Tim Winter reveals the different paths this history of connected cultures took towards global fame, a century after the first evidence of contact between
China and Europe was unearthed. He also reveals how this remarkably popular depiction of the past took hold as a platform for geopolitical ambition, a celebration of peace and cosmopolitan harmony, and created dreams of exploration and grand adventure. Winter further explores themes that reappear today as China seeks to revive the Silk Roads for the twenty-first century. Known across the globe, the Silk Road is a concept fit for the modern world, and yet its significance and origins remain
poorly understood and are the subject of much confusion. Pathbreaking in its analysis, this book presents an entirely new reading of this increasingly important concept, one that is likely to remain at the
center of world affairs for decades to come.
From the Great Game to the present, an international cultural and political biography of one of our most evocative, compelling, and poorly understood narratives of history.The Silk Road is rapidly becoming one of the key geocultural and geostrategic concepts of the twenty-first century. Yet, for much of the twentieth century the Silk Road received little attention, overshadowed by nationalism and its invented pasts, and a world
dominated by conflict and Cold War standoffs. In The Silk Road, Tim Winter reveals the different paths this history of connected cultures took towards global fame, a century after the first evidence of contact between
China and Europe was unearthed. He also reveals how this remarkably popular depiction of the past took hold as a platform for geopolitical ambition, a celebration of peace and cosmopolitan harmony, and created dreams of exploration and grand adventure. Winter further explores themes that reappear today as China seeks to revive the Silk Roads for the twenty-first century. Known across the globe, the Silk Road is a concept fit for the modern world, and yet its significance and origins remain
poorly understood and are the subject of much confusion. Pathbreaking in its analysis, this book presents an entirely new reading of this increasingly important concept, one that is likely to remain at the
center of world affairs for decades to come.
List of Illustrations
Preface
"The Silk Road," Morning Bulletin, May 1943
1 Introduction
Part One - Connecting Cultures
2 The Routes of Civilization
3 Frontiers of Antiquity
4 Japan as Asia?
Part Two - Adventures into Cosmopolitanism
5 The Car-tographies of Adventure
6 Closed Worlds, Open Minds
Part Three - A Route to Peace?
7 A Divided World
8 Civilizations in Dialogue
Part Four - Geopolitics
9 Metaphors of Power
10 Geostrategic Revivals
11 Silk Road Futures
Appendix A
Appendix B
Bibliography
Index
Tim Winter is an interdisciplinary scholar and Professorial Future Fellow of the Australian Research Council. His work addresses how the past comes to be constructed and reconstructed for public audiences and for diplomatic, geopolitical, and nationalistic purposes. His most recent book is Geocultural Power: China's Quest to Revive the Silk Roads for the Twenty First Century (2019).
Tim Winter reexamines the idea of the 'Silk Road' and shows that it
has had a range of meanings over time, with significance for groups
as far apart as geopoliticians and travel writers. This is a
stimulating read that illuminates many aspects of the Sino-Western
relationship.
*Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern
China, University of Oxford*
This remarkable and ambitious book could not be more timely, given
the necessity of understanding the 'Silk Road(s)' in this time of
deepening global shifts and tensions. Winter combines extraordinary
scholarly depth and breadth, as he draws apart the many elements,
ideas, and associations ascribed to this compelling geocultural and
geostrategic concept. By looking at the intersections of popular
culture, political events, and expert commentary, he shows how 'the
Silk Road' is used by different actors, in evolving ways, to make
historical, cultural, and political claims around space,
connectivity, and values. This book is an interdisciplinary
masterpiece and deserves close attention from all analysts of the
Silk Road.
*Emma Mawdsley, Professor of Human Geography and Fellow of Newnham
College, University of Cambridge*
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