Read of the Month (May 2019)

It is still May so I can just squeeze in the Read of the Month.

In keeping with the couple of serious posts I have written recently this book is especially pertinent.

Please do not be put off by its size.
It is

• interesting
• enlightening 
• informative
• revealing
• instructive
• 
  

It is The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan.

The format of the book is ingenious and allows the reader to divide the book into manageable chunks.

Each Chapter is "The Road of ............."

It looks at a part of the world that is unfamiliar to most of the Western World, which I would call the near East.  It is the region now occupied by countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan as well as Syria, Iran  and Azerbaij. 
Yes I too restored to an atlas to find the exact location of these countries. 

The book examines the influence this part of the world has had throughout history.

It starts with the ancient civilizations such as the Phoenicians and the birth of Christianity right up to modern times.

I found the first few chapters fascinating. 
Unfortunately I found the last few hugely depressing.
It seems we never learn from history.
The book appears to indicate the driving force of human activity is greed.

Without doubt this book has caused me to        re-evaluate things. 
As a result I am becoming more of an environmental activist. 
Hence my continual refrain to join CPRE www.cpre.org.uk 

I won't say I hope you enjoy this book because it is not really a book you can enjoy.  Instead I would like it to make you look at the world differently "globally".