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Peter is Professor of Global History at Oxford University. He has been called 'the first great historian of the 21st century' by the Brazilian press; 'the history rock star du jour by The New Statesman, and 'a literary star’, by The Times. He works on the history of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Middle East, Persia, Central and Southern Asia, and on relations between Christianity and Islam.
Historian and writer Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University. He is the author of the international bestselling The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, which saw him described in the New Statesman as 'the history rock star du jour'. Peter specialises in the history of Central Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Iran/Persia and is an expert in Medieval Greek literature as well as the relations between Christianity and Islam.
The Silk Roads adjusts the traditionally Europe-centric view of history. By examining the routes that carried trade, ideas, politics, religions and people throughout Eurasia, Peter challenges modern assumption and delivers insights, whilst drawing out potential lessons for an increasingly interconnected world. The book has won a host of international prizes and critical acclaim.
In the follow up book, The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World, Peter expands the lessons of the past to today, considering what the relationships build centuries ago tell us about our interconnected, but not always united world. In The Earth Transformed: An Untold History, Peter considers how a changing climate has dramatically shaped the development, and demise of civilisations across time.
He is Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research, and has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and NYU. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Royal Anthropological Institute.
As well as his academic work Peter has advised UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation), the World Bank and Department for International Development. He regularly writes for the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The New York Times and has commented extensively on the state of current relations between the East and West on Channel 4 News and Sky News.
With Afua Hirsch, Peter hosts the podcast Legacy, which places historic figures from the past under a contemporary spotlight to explore their lives from the perspective of now. His podcast series I’ve Been Thinking…with Peter Frankopan, invited erudite guests to comment on current affairs through the long lens of global history.
