David Nicolle 1st edit/1 print Attila and the Nomad Hordes 1990 [Paperback] Nicolle, David [Paperback] Nicolle, David

Osprey Elite #30

by David Nicolle

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, Ancient, Military Fiction, Medieval

Paperback

First published September 27, 1990

About the author

David C. Nicolle is a British historian specialising in the military history of the Middle Ages, with a particular interest in the Middle East.

Reviews

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh to be a nomad warrior, wandering the steppe in search of combat (hasn't moved from chair in 3+ hours)

[Manolo González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a brief book. I was expecting more about Attila and the huns specificately, but this one focus primary on the waves of migration of the turco-mongolian tribes/hordes from China to eastern Europe. Its interesting but not what I was looking for by reading the title.

[Faith Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent early primer for those who are looking for the broad outlines of steppe nomad history. Go elsewhere for indepth information on any of the several "hordes"covered in this book. As always, the illustrations are exceptional.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicolle is an academic with a Ph.D. in oriental studies and military history, but he’s also an experienced print and media journalist, the result of which is, he not only knows what he’s talking about, he knows how to communicate it vividly and fluently. Osprey specializes in slender, highly focused volumes that concentrate on arms and armor (and uniforms in the later periods) of specific units or cultures, and with a good deal of well-founded technical detail, but when Nicolle is the author -- and he’s done a number of these -- they also include well-written historical surveys.

“Attila and the Huns” (usually spoken as a single phrase) brings to mind slavering, bloodthirsty barbarians galloping out of central Asia, running amok on the fringes of the Roman empire. Then there’s a long, empty period, followed by Genghis Khan and the Mongols, with more of the same. This is the Hollywood version of history and it wasn’t really like that at all. The Huns actually were one of the weaker nomad peoples (relatively speaking) and the main reason they began gnawing at Rome’s flanks in the first place is that they were under intense pressure from more powerful cultures farther east, all the way to the fringes of China. And while they were consumate horsemen, they also were perfectly willing to fight as infantry when the situation called for it. However, where the Mongols imposed a strict rule of law on their conquered territory and promoted trade with the West, Attila was a one-off. His much smaller “empire” was an artifact of his own charismatic personality and did not survive his death by even a few weeks. As in most nomadic cultures, a leader was not accorded divine status. An individual warrior’s skill and reputation were everything, so whatever Attila accomplished was by force of will, and when he was gone, so were all his gains.

The author doesn’t really spend much time on Attila himself, nor on other individuals. Rather, he covers the period from the mid-5th to the early 13th centuries, dividing the ebb and flow of nomadic incursions into four waves. And there were a great many peoples involved in this process, who had many things in common but who also displayed numerous differences, not only in origin and language and religion, but in strategic style and immediate goals, including the Hsiung, Kushans, Sogdians, Sassanians, Avars (one of the most successful and influential in the West), Bulgars (who also came and stayed), Uighurs, Khazars (who converted to Judaism), Khirgiz, Kipchaks (early Mongols), Pechengs, and, of course, numerous varieties of Turks. Angus McBride, a very talented military artist and illustrator, provides a section of color plates, as he has for a large number of Osprey volumes.

This is only a starting place for the subject, but it’s a good one, a corrective for Western readers for whom a nomad is just a nomad.