Author: Scott Levi

I am among those who eagerly awaited the publication of Erika Monahan’s book, The Merchants of Siberia.  For a number of years I’ve been developing a study of what one might call (if one were inclined to use flamboyant catch phrases to draw popular attention to scholarly subjects) The Early Modern Silk Road.  This is essentially a study of Central Eurasia’s position at the heart of overland networks of exchange during a period when most have assumed that they had diminished to the point of insignificance, and few have thought to look and see if that assumption was correct.  The Merchants of Siberia advances a related argument and marshals a substantial amount of original evidence to support it.  Erika Monahan was kind enough to provide me with working drafts of select chapters as her project was coming to a close.  But it was only when I had the published book in my hand that I was able to appreciate the magnitude of her achievement.