Empires of the Steppes
A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization
On Sale: 08/01/2023
Empires of the Steppes
A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization
On Sale: 08/01/2023
Format:
About the Book
A narrative history of how Attila, Genghis Khan and the so-called barbarians of the steppes shaped world civilization.The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced some of the world’s greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. Their deeds still resonate today. Indeed, these nomads built long-lasting empires, facilitated the first global trade of the Silk Road and disseminated religions, technology, knowledge and goods of every description that enriched and changed the lives of so many across Europe, China and the Middle East. From a single region emerged a great many peoples—the Huns, the Mongols, the Magyars, the Turks, the Xiongnu, the Scythians, the Goths—all of whom went on to profoundly and irrevocably shape the modern world.
In this new, comprehensive history, Professor Kenneth W. Harl vividly re-creates the lives and world of these often-forgotten peoples from their beginnings to the early modern age. Their brutal struggle to survive on the steppes bred a resilient, pragmatic people ever ready to learn from their more advanced neighbors. In warfare, they dominated the battlefield for over fifteen hundred years. Under charismatic rulers, they could topple empires and win their own.
Critical Praise
"The author covers an impressive amount of ground… Harl observes that the nomads had a lasting effect on the world. The Mongols, for one, brought gunpowder and the arts of papermaking and printing to Europe, and Tamerlane inadvertently shifted the seat of power to the north and west of his homeland from Kiev to Moscow… An ambitious, impressively researched study that will interest advanced students of world history." —Kirkus Reviews
“Harl examines in this comprehensive and accessible chronicle the substantial impact of nomadic peoples from the Eurasian Steppes on the development of modern civilization in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia from 3000 BCE to 1400 CE. Harl demonstrates how nomad invasions shaped history: the Hun invasions of the mid-400s drove Germanic tribes to seek new homes within the Roman Empire, leading to the toppling of Rome; Avar incursions into Byzantium in the 500s and 600s dramatically influenced the subsequent growth and spread of Islamic influence in the Middle East; and Genghis Khan and his descendants created a Mongol Empire that spread from Russia to Japan, drawing new borders in the Middle East and Asia that are still recognized today. While the steppe nomads could carve out an empire, it was not possible to rule from horseback, resulting in a pattern of conquest and collapse that defined Eurasian civilization for millennia; even the Age of European Discovery, Harl contends, can be attributed to the power and riches of the steppe empires that enticed travelers from the West. Marked by its meticulous detail and broad sweep, this is a major contribution to the understanding of how the modern world came to be.”—Publishers Weekly
“From Attila to Genghis Khan via Prester John, and from the terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang to the walls that Alexander built to hold back the hosts of Gog and Magog, this is a history of epic scope. Bringing together the empires of the steppe land with the caravan cities of the Silk Road and imperial China, Kenneth W. Harl’s encyclopedic account spans two thousand years of Eurasian history. It is a reminder that what happens in Central Asia seldom stays there but can have consequences that turn the tide of human affairs.” —Martyn Rady, author of The Habsburgs
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Product Details
- ISBN: 9781335429278
- ISBN 10: 1335429271
- Imprint: Hanover Square Press
- On Sale: 08/01/2023
- Pages: 576
- List Price:41.00 CAD
- BISAC1 : HISTORY / Civilization
- BISAC2 : HISTORY / World
