For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west? in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east that calls out to those in search of riches and adventure. Sweeping right across Central Asia and deep into China and India, a region that once took center stage is again rising to dominate global politics, commerce, and culture. A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is a dazzling exploration of the forces that have driven the rise and fall of empires, determined the flow of ideas and goods, and are now heralding a new dawn in international affairs.