While this is an important book for scholars, teachers, and students of World History, it is also an important book for a general audience in that it dispels some important myths about the transmission and evolution of "ancient knowledge": the Renaissance did not come directly from the Greeks via the Arabs. Central Asians played a crucial and heretofore underappreciated role in this process. It's a long read, and perhaps too much so, but it provides exhaustive detail to make its points and thus Starr effectively supports his arguments. I personally found it more informative than enjoyable, but it was worth it for the stories and unique insight.