Of the ninety-one detained, all but nine were shot

Of the 101 members of the supreme military leadership, all but ten were arrested; of the ninety-one detained, all but nine were shot. These included three of the five marshals of the Soviet Union and two of its admirals, as well as the entire senior air force personnel, every head of of every military district, and almost every military commander. The Red Army was brought to its knees.

P. Frankopan,, The Silk Roads (2015), 362

In 1500, there were around 500 political units in Europe; in 1900, there were twenty-five

The centuries that followed the emergence of Europe as a global power were accompanied by relentless consolidation and covetousness. In 1500, there were around 500 political units in Europe; in 1900, there were twenty-five.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 260

How useful it is for leaders who have a view to posterity to patronise historians who write sympathetically of their age of empire

Blanket images of the mongols as barbaric destroyers are wide of the mark, and represent the misleading legacies of the histories written later which emphasised ruin and devastation above all else. This slanted view of the past provides a notable lesson in how useful it is for leaders who have a view to posterity to patronise historians who write sympathetically of their age of empire - something the Mongols conspicuously failed to do.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 161

Even today regular greetings reference human trafficking

So widespread was slavery in the Mediterranean and the Arabic world than even today regular greetings reference human trafficking. All over Italy, when they meet, people say to each other, 'schiavo', from a Venetian dialect. 'Ciao', as it is more commonly spelt, does not mean 'hello'; it means 'I am your slave'

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 122

Around the middle of the seventh century, the future seemed easy to read. Christianity was on the march across Asia.

Around the middle of the seventh century, the future seemed easy to read. Christianity was on the march across Asia, making inroads at the expense of Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Buddhism. Religions have always played off against each other in this region and learnt that they had to compete for attention. The most competitive and successful, however, turned out to be a religion born in the little town of Bethlehem. Given the progress that had been made over the centuries that followed the crucifixion of Jesus at the hands of Pontius Pilate, it should only have been a matter of time before the tentacles of Christianity reached the Pacific, linking the great ocean with the Atlantic in the west.

P. Frankopan,, The Silk Roads (2015), 62

A sign of how Christians improved standards in Persia and elsewhere in the east

This was to be welcomed, noted another writer [Eusebius], as a sign of how Christians improved standards in Persia and elsewhere in the east; 'Persians who have become his disciples no longer marry their mothers,' while those on the steppes no longer 'feed on human flesh, because of Christ's word which has come to them'. Such developments ought to be warmly welcomed, he wrote.

P. Frankopan, The Silk Roads (2015), 39