"We live in a world shaped by the interactions of its inhabitants in the year 1000," writes Valerie Hansen, professor at Yale University and distinguished scholar of global history, in the preface to her book.

Around the year 1000, Vikings, merchants, and travelers from Northern Europe, China, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas charted new land and sea routes, bringing distant cultures into systematic contact. The exchange of goods, people, ideas, and religions laid the foundations of the first globalization in history, causing both intellectual enrichment and cultural fragmentation, technological progress, as well as the violent displacement of populations.

Through the scents of exotic spices, bustling markets, and trade routes, in this book history transforms into a thrilling journey that invites the reader to explore a deeply interconnected world, revealing the essence of timeless interaction and our shared experience.

Valerie Hansen is an American historian and professor of History at Yale University. She draws her material from both archaeological findings and written historical sources. Among others, she has authored the books The Open Empire and The Silk Road: A New History on the history of China. In 2021, she was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.