Introduction
Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he is Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research and Senior Research Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford. He is also UNESCO Professor of Silk Roads Studies and a Bye-Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge.
He works on the history and politics of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Middle East, Persia/Iran, Central Asia, China and beyond – as well as on the histories of climate, natural resources and connectivities.
The Times has described Peter as ‘a literary star’, while the BBC calls him a ‘rock star don‘, as do the BBC, la Repubblica (Italy), Der Spiegel (Germany) The New Statesman, VLT (Sweden) and Helsingin Sanomat (Finland). ‘Frankopan is special’, says Business Standard (India). Brazil’s DCM magazine has called him ‘the first great historian of the 21st century.’
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Books
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller
The Earth Transformed
An Untold History
From the international bestselling author of The Silk Roads comes a major history of how a changing climate has dramatically shaped the development-and demise-of civilisations across time. When we think about history, we rarely pay much attention to the most destructive floods, the worst winters, the most devastating droughts or the ways that ecosystems have changed over time. In The Earth Transformed, Peter Frankopan, one of the world’s leading historians, shows that the natural environment is a crucial, if not the defining, factor in global history – and not just of humankind. Volcanic eruptions, solar activities, atmospheric, oceanic and other shifts, as well as anthropogenic …
‘An epic and spellbinding story … Humanity has transformed the Earth: Frankopan transforms our understanding of history’
Financial Times
The New Silk Roads
The Present and Future of the World
All roads used to lead to Rome. Today, they lead to Beijing. When The Silk Roads was published in 2015, it became an instant classic. A major reassessment of world history, it compelled us to look at the past from a different perspective. The New Silk Roads brings this story up to date, addressing the present and future of a world that is changing dramatically. 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 an age of Brexit …
‘Masterly mapping out of a new world order’
Evening Standard
Illustrated by Neil Packer
The Silk Roads – Illustrated Edition
The Extraordinary History That Created Your World
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 …
‘Spellbinding … A pitch-perfect treasure’
LoveReading 4 Kids
The No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller
The Silk Roads
A New History of the World
The sun is setting on the Western world. Slowly but surely, the direction in which the world spins has reversed: where for the last five centuries the globe turned westwards on its axis, it now turns to the 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 …
‘Fearless and brilliant … This is history on a grand scale, with a sweep and ambition that is rare’
Guardian
The First Crusade
The Call from the East
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. 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 …
‘Rich in detail … This book explains why 80,000 crusaders were drawn to the real first world war’
Independent
Podcasts
Legacy, with Afua Hirsch
Peter co-hosts the podcast Legacy alongside Afua Hirsch, produced by Goalhanger Productions and Wondery.
Launched at the end of 2023, Legacy looks at the lives of some of the extraordinary men and women who have ever lived – and ask whether they have the reputations they deserve.
You can subscribe via Wondery, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
“A rock star don”
BBC News
“A Herodotus for the 21st Century”
Irish Left Review
“Monumental … Prodigious … Astonishing. Frankopan is an exhilarating companion for the journey along the routes which conveyed silk, slaves, ideas, religion, and disease, and around which today may hang the destiny of the world.”
Vanity Fair
“Frankopan transforms our understanding of history”
Financial Times