Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present (Book Review)

By Christopher I. Beckwith. Princeton: Princeton university press, 2009. Pp. xxv + 472. $35. The many years Beckwith has dedicated to the study and teaching of the history of Central Eurasia shine through in this intellectually wide-ranging book. Not many scholars are comfortable working with materials in Chinese, Old Tibetan, Arabic, Old Turkic, and a range of other languages. And not many books discuss the Koguryo, whose realm bordered on the Pacific, and the Franks, whose territory touched the Atlantic, on the same page (135). However, the strong points in this book are often overshadowed by glaring flaws. It probably should not be used as a textbook unless the instructor knows the subject well and can help students focus on the book's strengths and avoid its flaws.