The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization Began

Very readable and comprehensive history of the world in the centuries surrounding the year 1000. Nice overview of the vikings and their effects on the world, but much more. Includes a good discussion of the situation relating to slavery in Africa at this time. Does not ignore changes in the world in East Asia and China and the Pacific area. I especially liked the way she explained the actual data she was using to draw conclusions. This was also evident in her "The SilkjRoad: A New History."

This is a very smart and interesting book by Valerie Hansen who also wrote on on the Silk Road. I found much of it fascinating but at times was just overwhelmed with facts. They become dry - maybe they're necessary to get all of that information to the reader. Still, Hansen's writing sparkles at times and is totally engaging. I wish the entire book had a little more life.. though I realize that going back to the year 1000 does need a strong factual basis. Great job. Just had to push through at times. Necessary history though.

This book is a fascinating, highly factual look at the role of trade through a key evolutionary period, when countries were becoming more and more interconnected, and goods were transported over vast distances to the benefit of the many involved parties.Globalization is a hot button term, but in reality, it comes down to simple trade between nations. In an environment where both the left and the right are decrying globalization, where mercantilism (protectionist policies) is now the new fashion, it's important to get a real look at the roots of true world trade, whether spices, ceramics, precious metals, dried fish, or – horribly –slavery.When one country wants what another country has, trade is created, and it’s as natural a phenomena as the local market fair in any medieval country.A minor critique of the book is the factual narrative approach that sometimes becomes a bit overwhelming with a stream of concatenated facts. But on the whole, this is a vitally important book that broadens the understanding of how humans interact through trade, how religion played a part, and how the vast dynastic empires of the middle ages relied on trade to their benefit.This is a work that clearly required an enormous amount of work by the author and is an important piece of historical analysis that should have a place in anyone’s library.

Churchill is said to have quipped that history is written by the winners. For centuries, with little variation, that meant teaching world history beginning with Sumer, then demythologizing the Hebrew Bible, surveying Greco-Roman civilization and then studying the details of European thought and state machinery from around 1500. I still remember my high school text for AP History stating, “As the world is divided into Capitalist and Communist states, both derived from Europe, the history of the modern world is largely the history of modern Europe.”Thankfully that era is long passed. European hegemony in world affairs is no longer a matter of fact. We now live in a globalized world where, given the exchange of ideas and people, academics want to write histories of the world that are inclusive of more peoples.A good example of this is The Year 1000. It tells the story of the worldwide trade routes that united Africa, India, China and Oceania. It speculates on potential intercommunication between the Norse and Native Americans. It imagines a North-South trading route through the Americas that few historians have recognized.The story is told in a popular fashion and is told splendidly well. Melding archaeology and primary sources Hansen displays a breadth and detailed knowledge of non-European peoples that is beyond impressive. She’s crafted a thesis, that European colonists inherited a trade network that had already been largely built by the year 1000, that is interesting, provocative and open to critique.I do wish that this history did not have the edge that previous histories were over focused on dead white males. But, as Churchill said, history is written by the winners. As we once had histories that celebrated European civilization we now have histories that celebrate the globalized world.I recommend this book to all interested in the best kind of revisionist history—that which revise narratives in ways that matter and are argued less by harmony to modern ears and more with data driven evidence. By this standard Dr. Valerie Hansen has certainly succeeded.

On the plus side this book is an easy, quick read written in a casual style and sprinkled with suprising facts and fun details. On the down side the author shows very little empathy for the people or environments destroyed by the events she describes.She is explicitly pro-trade, pro-globalization and pro-developement. She writes of millions of slaves being traded but does not stop to think about what this means to the individual families and lives. She gets excited about the tons of rare tropical wood sent round the world, but never speaks of the environmental devestaton this will lead to. Her spirit and focus seem lost in world events and shipping quantities while largely ignoring what these things mean to the individual and the future of human kind.The book also seems hastily written. Minor contradictions crop up in about half the chapters. This is not a carefully crafted nor deeply thought through work. Of course our current globalised economy does not allow time for such things.

Personal interest

Readers of this book are in for a real treat. A fascinating synthesis of archaeology, anthropology and historical analysis the scholarship underlying the well researched and highly readable text is supported by detailed notes and bibliography. The book will challenge and stimulate you in equal parts as a truly global perspective is laid out showing the trading links and cultural exchanges existing and thriving in the year 10000. From the Viking settlements in North America and the trade routes reaching down to the Mayan empire, the well established routes across Sub Saharan Africa to the Middle East, Slavic and Rus trade across Eastern Europe to Constantinople and Baghdad, the Silk Road between China and Europe by land, and the extraordinary maritime trade routes between Polynesia, Indonesia, the Arabic world and Africa. A thoroughly thought provoking and highly recommended study.

Die Geschichtsprofessorin Valerie Hansen hat ein faszinierendes Buch geschrieben. 30 Jahre hat so ist zu lesen, daran gearbeitet:Sie erzählt die Geschichte des Welthandels in den Jahrhunderten um das Jahr 1000.Wer einen Geschichtsunterricht erlebt hat, in dem Europa der Nabel der Welt war und es Europäer waren, die ab 1500 den Rest der Welt nach und nach entdeckten, lernt auf einmal, dass schon vor 1000 Jahren der "Rest" der Welt enge Handelsbeziehungen unterhielt. Zu Land und zu Wasser wurden tausende von Kilometern zurückgelegt, um Waren auszutauschen.Prof. Hansen spekuliert nicht, sondern prüft archäologische (nicht zuletzt gesunkene Schiffe!) und die wenigen schriftlichen Funde sehr sorgfältig, nennt auch widersprüchliche Interpretationen.Die Globalisierung um das Jahr 1000 war nicht viel anders als die heutige: Es entstanden Lieferketten mit spezialisierten Berufen, es wurde für den Export produziert, Bootsbau und Navigation wurden verbessert. Entlang der Handelsrouten und in den Zielhäfen gab es Niederlassungen der fremden Fernhändler.Angesichts der modernen grünlinken Globalisierungsgegner, die zurück in die Steinzeit wollen, ist es beruhigend zu erfahren, dass Globalisierung keine kapitalistische Verschwörungstheorie ist.Es wäre beckmesserisch zu sagen, die Globalisierung um das Jahr 1000 wäre keine richtige, weil sie nicht wirklich weltweit gewesen wäre, sondern sich vor allem auf die Gegenden um den Indischen Ozean, Südostasien, Ostasien und Afrika beschränke und dort jeweils auf die Wohlhabenden. (Was laut Hansen zumindest für China nicht gälte.)Was mir manchmal zu viel wurde, sind die ständig wechselnden Namen der Herrscher, Stämme, Völker und Reiche. Da habe ich manches Mal schnell weiter geblättert. Das tut aber meiner Begeisterung kaum Abbruch.

This book opens up an unfamiliar world, with surprising trade routes, providing the surprisingly early foundations of globalisation. It is based on extensive research, but is written in a humorous and accessible style. It provides good coverage of the societies in North and South America, plus extensive coverage of the Middle East and China, including the extensive links between these last two.

Unter Globalisierung heute versteht man die Gliederung eines Produktionsprozesse in mehreren Schritten die in unterschiedlichen von einander endfernten Orten stafinden und in einem endproduktisort zusammen geführt werden.Unter diesem Aspekt liegt das Buch völlig daneben.Informativ über die damaligen Produkt Strömen sehr gut beschrieben.