To the Ends of the Earth: The Great Travel and Trade Routes of Human History

This book is the cousin of "The Silk Road: A History" by the same author. And much of my review of that book would apply to this. Few think of commerce as romantic. Yet the history of commerce is about more then accounting. It is about the Clipper Ships that raced on the China trade, the caravans that crossed the desert. It is about vikings, cossacks, mountain men, bedouin and other peoples who traveled and traded along the ancient roads. It is about the semimystical aura of storied items like gems and spices, and the intrigues between kings. Finally it is about connection, the ways each people showed what it could contribute to life with his hands and his mind. And it is about the endurance of myriads of people who wandered along the ancient pathways. For those who wish to travel through time and space in their minds, this is the book for you.

This book shouldn't be out-of-print just for the sole reason that there are no others like it and it's on such a central, enlightening subject. It devotes a chapter to each of the most central and famous trade and travel routes on the Earth. These trade and travel routes are not only at the center of the history of each of their regions (and world history) but they are actually etched into the contours of the Earth (or connected with the ocean currents). Whether they are overland routes, rivers, ocean routes, or combinations of each, they give a sense of real history that is more foundational than what can be described by the political borders of nations and regions. It can also be said that most all history plays out on these trade and travels routes and in the cities they inevitably lead to. Some examples of the trade and travel routes recorded in this book: the Amber Routes; The Cape Horn Route; The Appian Way and the Egnatian Way; the Eurasian Steppe Route and the Russian River Routes; the Great Desert Route and the Persian Royal Road; the Great North Road; the Great Trek Route and the Missionary Road; the Heraclean Way; the Inca Royal Road; the Indian Grand Road; the Mediterranean-Black Sea Routes; the Mississippi Route; the Mohawk Trail; the Nile Route and the Sudan Route; the North Atlantic Route; the Oregon Trail and the California Trail; the Orient Route; the Panama Route; the Sahara Routes; the Silk Road; the Spice Route; the Western Seaways and the Tin Routes; the Incense Road and the Pilgrimage Road; the Cape of Good Hope Route; the Californa Mission Trail; the Ambassador's Road and the Burma Road... And there are even more. This is a very well-written and illustrated book and should be back in print.