An epic history of how the so-called 'barbarians of the steppes' shaped the modern world. 'A rollercoaster of historical narration' History Today 'This is a history of epic scope that brings together the empires of the steppe land with the caravan cities of the Silk Road and imperial China' Martyn Rady, author of The Middle Kingdoms 'A sweeping account of forty-five centuries of nomadic tribes' Gillian Tett, Financial Times 'Flips the script to present the booted, felt-capped, leather-trousered and kaftan-wearing nomads as the bearers of civilisation . . . Harl's exhaustively researched book will ensure they rejoin the narrative of world history' Marc David Baer, Guardian The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These tribes produced some of the world's greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. And 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 enthralling new history, Professor Kenneth W. Harl draws on a lifetime of scholarship to vividly recreate the lives of these 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 neighbours. In warfare, they dominated the battlefield for over fifteen hundred years. Under charismatic rulers, they could topple empires and win their own.

.While the early history of the steppe nomad is shrouded in obscurity, The Empire of the Steppes brings both the general reader and the specialist the majestic sweep, grandeur and the overriding intellectual grasp of Grousset's original. Hailed as a masterpiece when first published in French in 1939, and in English in 1970, this great work of synthesis brings before us the people of the steppes, dominated by three mighty figures--Atilla, Genghiz Khan, and Tamberlain--as they marched through ten centuries of history, from the borders of China to the frontiers of the West. The book includes nineteen maps, a comprehensive index, notes, and bibliography. The late Rene Grousset was director of the Cernuschi Museum and curator of the Muse Guimet in Paris, a member of the French Academy and author of many works on Asia Minor and the Near East.

This volume examines the circumstances that brought about the rise of the Mongolian empire. Twelfth-century Asia and the tribal politics of Inner Asia are examined on macro and micro levels. The study concentrates on the Keraits, one of the most powerful tribal peoples of Inner Asia during Chinggis Khan's early rise to power and one of the greatest losers in the ensuing political realignment. The Kerait, who gave rise to the legend of Prester John, are studied as a symbol of Inner Asian tribal world. In contrast to models of domination, this work portrays a competitive environment involving both conflict and coexistence. Focusing on power, its limitations and its transformation, we trace the emergence and consolidation of Chinggis Khan's authority within this environment of coexistence, shifting alliances and competition.

Jacopo Maria Pepe examines the rapid development of non-energy transport infrastructure in the broader Eurasian space. By doing so, the author considers the ongoing structural transformation of the Eurasian continent against the backdrop of deepening commercial interconnectivity in Eurasia into broader areas of trade, supported by the rapid development of rail connectivity. He frames this process in a long-wave historical analysis and considers in detail the geopolitical, geo-economic, and theoretical implications of deepening physical connectivity for the relationships among China, Russia, Central Asia, and the European Union.

Empires, the largest political systems of the ancient and early modern world, powerfully transformed the lives of people within and even beyond their frontiers in ways quite different from other, non-imperial societies. Appearing in all parts of the globe, and in many different epochs, empires invite comparative analysis - yet few attempts have been made to place imperial systems within such a framework. This book brings together studies by distinguished scholars from diverse academic traditions, including anthropology, archaeology, history and classics. The empires discussed include case studies from Central and South America, the Mediterranean, Europe, the Near East, South East Asia and China, and range in time from the first millennium BC to the early modern era. The book organises these detailed studies into five thematic sections: sources, approaches and definitions; empires in a wider world; imperial integration and imperial subjects; imperial ideologies; and the afterlife of empires.

This book is about Steppe Eurasia and China, Persia, Byzantium, as well as the 'Inside' and 'Outside' Other. This dual approach helps the reader to better understand the attitudes of the Steppe to both the southern sedentary empires (in this book, the 'Outside' Other) and to the women and shamans/magicians within the nomadic confederations (in this book, the 'Inside' Other), in the so-called 'Golden Age' of the Steppe Empire, e.g. between the sixth and ninth/tenth centuries.The result is a new and vivid picture of the Steppe's attitudes to 'otherness' and 'usness'. The book covers not only a long period of time, but also a vast territory, from Mongolia to the Black Sea and South-Eastern Europe. It studies many peoples and societies and their images of the 'Other', interpreted through different approaches and methodologies.

Covering the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, this essential reference presents the figures, places, and events that led this once-beleaguered region to rise up to become the largest contiguous empire in history. In the 13th century, Chinggis Khan rose to power, leading an empire of a million people and defeating surrounding regions with much larger populations. This compendium follows the achievements—and failures—of the Mongol Empire from the birth of Chinggis Khan in 1162 to the formation of the successor states that came from the dissolution of the world power in the 16th century: the Yuan Empire in East Asia; the Chaghatai Khanate in Central Asia; the Ilkhanate in the Middle East; and the Jochid or Kipchak Khanate in the Pontic-Caspian Steppes, known as the Golden Horde. Through some 180 entries, this two-volume set covers every aspect of Mongol civilization, organizing content into eight sections: government and politics, organization and administration, individuals, groups and organizations, key events, military, objects and artifacts, and key places. Each section is accompanied by an essay introducing the topic in the context of the Mongol Empire. The work also includes a chronology, a number of annotated primary documents, and a bibliography.

If evolution has changed humans physically, has it also affected human behavior? Drawing on evolutionary psychology, sociobiology, and human behavioral ecology, Human Nature and the Evolution of Society explores the evolutionary dynamics underlying social life. In this introduction to human behavior and the organization of social life, Stephen K. Sanderson discusses traditional subjects like mating behavior, kinship, parenthood, status-seeking, and violence, as well as important topics seldom included in books of this type, especially gender, economies, politics, foodways, race and ethnicity, and the arts. Examples and research on a wide range of human societies, both industrial and nonindustrial, are integrated throughout. With chapter summaries of key points, thoughtful discussion questions, and important terms defined within the text, the result is a broad-ranging and comprehensive consideration of human society, thoroughly grounded in an evolutionary perspective.