The Golden Road

How Ancient India Transformed the World

De: William Dalrymple

Narrado por: William Dalrymple

Bloomsbury presents The Golden Road, written and read by William Dalrymple.

The internationally bestselling author of The Anarchy returns with a sparkling, soaring history of ideas, tracing South Asia’s under-recognized role in producing the world as we know it.

For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilization, creating around it a vast empire of ideas. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail across the world, along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific.

In The Golden Road, William Dalrymple draws from a lifetime of scholarship to highlight India's oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia. For the first time, he gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the world. From the largest Hindu temple in the world at Angkor Wat to the Buddhism of China, from the trade that helped fund the Roman Empire to the creation of the numerals we use today (including zero), India transformed the culture and technology of its ancient world – and our world today as we know it.©2025 William Dalrymple (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Connections to other periods of world history

Liked the depth of detail of Indian history - learned some new people & made connections to other places in world history

fascinating history but why did he not learn to pronounce the Chinese names?

Great book, I learned tons. Highly recommend for those looking to expand their knowledge of Asian history or even world history in general.
At first it bothered me that he was pronouncing the Chinese names wrong (you-ay-zee instead of Yuezhi, for example), but I could get through, but now I'm in Chapter 4 and the story begins with the life of a Chinese monk, and I'm going to pull my hair out. Did he really not know a single Chinese speaker who could tell him how to say these names? If that's going to bother you I recommend reading the book yourself instead of getting the audio.

Dalrymple is a masterful story teller

Dalrymple is a masterful story teller. He weaves a beautiful tapestry of ancient connections the resonance which can be seen all around us

Vital insights into the sources of culture and the philosophy of knowledge.

Too much praise might set unrealistic expectations, but failing to add this work to your studies of the ancient world would be a mistake. I enjoyed the accessible style and knack for laying out important insights with just enough detail to spark further investigation. Let's all read this book and bring the Indosphere back into the story of intellectual and spiritual progress where it deserves a place of honor.

I learned new information about Indian history apart from British influence.

Excellent history written and narrated engagingly. I recommend this book to anyone interested in India and general cultural history.