Empires of the Steppes: The Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilisation

by Kenneth W. Harl

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 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World History, Ancient History, Asia, Audiobook, Medieval

577 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2023

About the author

Dr. Kenneth W. Harl is Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he teaches courses in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader history. He earned his B.A. from Trinity College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University.

Recognized as an outstanding lecturer, Professor Harl has received numerous teaching awards at Tulane, including the coveted Sheldon H. Hackney Award two times. He has earned Tulane's annual Student Body Award for Excellence in Teaching nine times and is the recipient of Baylor University's nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.

In 2007, he was the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professor in History at Wofford College. An expert on classical Anatolia, he has taken students with him into the field on excursions and to assist in excavations of Hellenistic and Roman sites in Turkey.

Professor Harl has also published a wide variety of articles and books, including his current work on coins unearthed in an excavation of Gordion, Turkey, and a new book on Rome and her Iranian foes. A fellow and trustee of the American Numismatic Society, Professor Harl is well known for his studies of ancient coinage. He is the author of Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the Roman East, A.D. 180–275 and Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew very little about the Steppes.
Now I know a little more.



There's a lot here and I didn't retain much of it, tbh. BUT! I feel like I will have a better general knowledge base when talking about The Silk Road, Attila the Hun, Kublai Khan, or Genghis Khan.
Now, I wasn't studying the material in this or making notes, and I definitely wasn't thinking that I would be able to converse intelligently with someone who actually knows the history of the area.
And I was 100% right about those expectations. This is A LOT of information. And I am older than the average student, so I'm giving myself a bit of grace here.



However, I also expect that the next time I listen to a book on this subject matter, I'll recognize a few more names and dates. And that's about all I can hope for at this point.
Recommended.

[Lilisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive and detailed historical account of the Eurasian Steppes and the diverse people and rulers over the ages. Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Tamerlane, and other well known figures we’ve come across in our study of history. As well, there were loads and loads of other characters that it was hard to keep track and was frankly overwhelming. But I can see how the immense research and details would be an amazing delight for historians and diehard history buffs. Overall I’m glad I read the book even though my eyes glazed over frequently and page turning became an automatic syndrome. I got as much as I could without getting bogged down and appreciated the meticulous insight into the people and warriors of the Steppes and their prowess and resilience over hundreds of years. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a historian I have to give this 4 stars because it seems very thorough and it was a good read. As a general reader of nonfiction, I'd probably give it 3 because it is NOT for the faint of heart! I credit my World Civilizations class from my freshman year of college (the instructor was so good) for what I was able to understand from this book. Without any background in the subject of Nomadic tribes of the Steppes (aka the Mongols) it is very difficult to keep up with.

I did enjoy the information on the legacy of the Mongol Empires. It is a good reminder that they were not just raiding hordes who destroyed everything in their wake - although they were definitely that.

A good overview of the subject and detailed enough to keep my interest as a historian, 4 stars.

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kenneth Harl's Empires of the Steppes is an excellent book with one huge caveat. It is a dense study of the people of the Eurasian steppes from their beginnings to more well known people like Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan.

The caveat is that this is not light reading for someone who wants a deep narrative discussion of one leader or significant hand holding on various aspects of the nomadic life. For me, I don't have enough background in this time and place in history to be able to glean major insight from Harl's story. This is in no way an indictment of Harl and the book. It is very well written and it is abundantly clear that Harl knows what he is talking about. For someone who has some background, this book is probably a must read and may lead many people to want to dig further into many of the characters Harl touches upon. It is a great book for certain audiences and it deserves five stars on scholarship alone.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.)

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the Steppe people and their influence on the world. Not as good as the authors lectures but still top notch. Could have done without the prestor John stuff and it does become a bit of name soup after awhile but that is to be expected on a book with this long of a time frame..

Recommended.

[Anderson Sulewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been fascinated by the steppe nomads for a while now, and have read a couple of books either directly focussing on these peoples or as a part of a broader history. This one was easily my favourite and provided a rigorous overview of the Eurasian 'grass sea' and the people who inhabited it. While certainly not an in-depth look at any one particular group, Kenneth Harl crafts a coherent yet incomplete story of Eurasia’s steppe warriors. Discussions on lifestyle, beliefs, and cultural practices really aided this narrative and gave context to the interactions between the steppe and civilisation. ‘Empires of the Steppes’ also provides an excellent account of the origin of the Indo-Aryan/Europeans way of life. I found my own understanding of the cultural/linguist groupings among steppe people developed in the course of reading. That being said, some readers may have difficulty wading through the jargon at times and the ending is rather sudden and without sufficient summation.

Steppe peoples have through various periods, been demonised as murderous barbarians or glorified as tolerant, enlightened saints. While there is certainly some truth to both of these accounts, ‘Empires of the Steppes’ shy’s away from this black and white portrait. This is really helped by the book defining the belief system of the Altic and Indo-Aryan peoples. Each believed in a sky lord, Tengri and Dyeus (the origin of Deus in English) respectively, as well as a host of minor gods. Religions like Buddhism easily integrated notions of Dharma into the broader nomad worldview. Further religions each provided a way to grasp the nature of Tengri in the practical world of the steppe. Successful Buddhist merchants were seen as having a successful god. From the 7th century, Nestorian Christians would proselytise and heal the wounded and as a result, nomads would draw crosses on the sick’s foreheads to aid in their recovery. If a religion had practical and observable advantages then they integrated this way of life into their own. Many Turks for instance converted to the world-conquering Islamic faith believing it would accord them victory, which it largely did. Central Asia's location also had this compressive role as a highway of information, creating a melting pot of faith. By understanding the environment and beliefs of the nomads a far clearer picture is painted by the author and avoids many of the narrative traps, books like Anthony Sattin’s ‘Nomads’ fall into. Over romanticising or demonising a nomadic way of life does not do history justice. These were truly remarkable people and had a major impact on the course of history and it's worth acknowledging that.

Particularly impressive among those feats are that of the Indo-Aryans. Wow, what an impressive impact on history (much to the Hindu national's disdain lol). 'Empire of the Steppe' offers a fascinating account of their spread, from England to India these people roved across Eurasia. Innovations like chariot warfare and the domestication of the horse defined their eras. The languages they spoke are the origin of most modern Eurasian languages to this day, from Hindi, Persian, Greek, Latin, and English all the way to Spanish. Ironically these nomads were so successful that they brought their way of life to the Altic boreal ancestors of the Turks and Mongols who eventually replaced them. Learning which tribe is from which cultural group really felt like plugging gaps in my own understanding. Even just the way tribal identity was shaped on the steppe played into the dynamics of history, previously minor tribes would suddenly rise up and become the dominant ethnic group over a twenty-year period. This is contrary to modern ideas of nationalism but proved decisive across Eurasia as a powerful motivating factor or the ‘asabiyyah’ of a tribe (sidebar, I don’t think I’ve read a history book without Ibn Khaldun being mentioned at LEAST once). What was also mind-boggling was the continuity of belief in the various Eurasian steppe cultures over thousands of years. Their faith was a reflection of the environment they inhabited. Central Asia was at the confluence of so many civilisations and yet the steppe people never truly converted until they were crushed in the 15th and 16th centuries, rather integrating beliefs of various religions to aid them (as well as some conversions of course).

A minor criticism is the inaccessibility of the language, despite it being well written. Given this is sold in bookstores and is not an academic treatise some readers may have found it prohibitive. The issue is the sheer density of historical jargon and the lack of maps, as I found myself a couple of times having to double-check where the author was talking about. The glossary may aid some readers but unless you have a keen understanding of historical geography and naming conventions you may struggle at times. This becomes less of an issue towards the end of the book, as you become more accustomed and the topics more well-known. However, 5-10 maps throughout the book would have made great reference material for any reader not super invested in their historical understanding.

Unfortunately, the much greater sin and the reason why I've taken a star off is the way the book ends. It completely excludes a section on why the steppe nomads were rolled back by Eurasia’s gunpowder empires and fell into obscurity. This is a shame because there was a great chance for some excellent analysis of the fundamental shift that occurred in the 15th century which ended the nomad's dominance. It would have only needed another twenty-page chapter right at the end of a 410-page book. It felt especially weird that a book whose main aim is to convince the reader about the impact of these nomadic people doesn't spend any time analysing why they fell out of favour. Gunpowder, ocean travel, and increasing absolutism broke the back of this way of life and a comprehensive history should mention that. The author instead ends the narrative with Tamerlane and the last high point of these deadly steppe archers. This made it feel rather incomplete. That being said, please don’t let this dissuade you as it is an excellent book

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent synthesis history of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources. Densely packed with information. Very good bibliography, glossary and index.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading of these 'largely unknown shapers of the world today'. I'm becoming infected with a Eurasian history bug; the Silk Road and all that came as a result. I do get a little chaffed by my increasing belief of school keeping this history from us. I can't recall any mention of these 'barbarians' and the part they played.

Barbarian because;... 'they were a people living outside the Roman Empire or not fully integrated into Greco-Roman civilisation; a people considered uncivilised or culturally inferior by members of another people; a fierce, brutal and cruel people that were insensitive and uncultured.'

The very last thing these people were is barbarian.

[Rick Burcik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's, Kenneth Harl's, scholarship is excellent, but his book is nearly impenetrable. As a result, this book is not a good choice for general readers. However, historians who specialize in Asian history will enjoy this text, as will numismatical specialists (Mr. Harl's first love) and those who study language. One option for the general reader is to purchase "Empires of the Steppes" and skip immediately to the chapters on the great Khans. One interesting fact that will leap out at any reader of any portion of this text is that humans were almost constantly at war, whether over succession or against neighboring tribes.

[Arend · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book reads as if the author went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole 24 times: an approach to history equivalent to "one damn thing after another", a lack of disciplined copy editing (how many times do you need to write "the river Jaxartes (Syr Darya)") or any critical editing ("the cravenly [sic] emperor", "the autocratic regimes forged in response to the Mongols"), and no analysis to move the overload of factual statements beyond "and then, and then, and then."
Two stars because it did have interesting interludes, like the linguistic asides.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

We needed a modern updated big picture version of Rene Grousset's Empires of the Steppes. While this is not quite as detailed or thorough as that old classic, it is more accessible to the modern and contains newer scholarship the former was lacking. As such, it is a great addition to the large scale steppe histories out there.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is topically very interesting and will present compelling conclusions regarding how Steppe peoples have influenced history to an extent criminally underrepresented, at least in the education I had received through college. This book does a very good job of staying on topic and grinding it’s axe; it always reverts back to the core argument of how X Steppe people influenced Y region at this time and we can see how this resulted in Z today.

My concerns with this book are largely organizational, but I would like to point out there is a very thorough glossary in this book that readers should absolutely utilize; it’s very well done and relieves much confusion from a story this big.

I would like to see future editions of this book contain maps and illustrations. As far as the former, this book covers an immense geographical territory from Europe to the Middle East to China, and I just feel like the author expects the reader to enter this text with too much of a geographical understanding of the terrain and cities (many of which no longer exist or were renamed). As far as illustrations, the evidence of the book is based largely around archaeological findings and Harl’s expertise in ancient coinage, which is fascinating, but it would be nice to be able to reference examples of these within the text.

Moreover, illustration sections are a great way to summarize the narrative of a nonfiction book with captions corresponding to the images, and this book suffers greatly from several sections that yada-yada over long stretches of time and names that you feel like you have no idea what’s going on at times. I understand there is need to condense; this book would be like 2,000 pages if it fleshed out everything it brings up. But the book would have benefited from maybe 30-50 more pages of narrative; some parts are a slog of events that are barely explained involving people mentioned one time and the years go forward and back and it just gets messy. But I really do think a well structured illustration section with well written captions to summarize the narrative in a later edition would help what is an incredibly intriguing argument.

This book is worth your time; 3 out of 5 for me in its current state, but if maps and illustrations are added at a later time, probably worth 4 out of 5.

[Peter Djerv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lång, intressant, men behöver kartor. Oerhört många namn!

[Nicholas Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid survey level text that generally avoids straying into over narrativization or other sorts of pop-history digressions, and contains interesting asides into topics like linguistics. Unfortunately, the book falls short in the area of analysis, mainly sticking to description. Harl includes hints of a thesis about the nomads "shaping civilization," but fails to sufficiently deliver a substantial exploration of this idea. While Harl's massive scope is likely to blame for this shortcoming, he still manages to keep a well-paced account over a vast chronological and geographic subject. Most disappointing to me was Harl's extremely limited analysis of primary or secondary material. He does spend a chapter discussing various travellogues of the Mongol Empire, but this is an exception. Rarely does he mention, contextualize, or critique any of the sources he cites.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like this. It's a bit off a puzzle in places, with gaps being filled in my informed guesswork. Still, it's very interesting to read of such early shoots of our civilisation.

[Andres Felipe Contreras Buitrago · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro empieza con la campaña de atila el huno en Roma donde se nos muestran sus conquistas y la causa de su freno en el objetivo de tomar la capital del imperio romano de Occidente, el libro se centrará en la historia de los pueblos nómadas esteparios, lamentablemente estos pueblos han tenido muchos estereotipos y malas representaciones a lo largo de la historia.
El primer capítulo es tal vez, el más débil por parte del autor, donde nos muestran los primeros asentamientos de los pueblos esteparios en la región de Eurasia, los primeros habitantes de esta región tenían un origen europeo e incluso algunos tenían unos ancestros que provenían desde Siberia, algo destacado este capítulo es que los hititas fueron los primeros en darse en cuenta cómo la meseta de anatolia era muy similar a las estepas eurasiáticas, por lo que era ideal para el ganado y los caballos, esta misma civilización aprendió de la escritura con informe gracias a los comerciantes asirios, los primeros pueblos dominantes de esta región fueron los escitas, los cuales reemplazaron los carros con los arqueros montados, estos tenían grandes conocimientos geográficos y comerciales, otra activo es cita importante fueron los cimerios, los cuales representaron una amenaza a los asirios. Por último, tenemos a los medos unos nómades iraníes que junto al imperio neobabilónico acabaron con el imperio asirio.
El segundo capítulo empieza con los enormes vehículos que usaban los nómadas para trasladarse, estos sabían cómo sobrevivir al invierno y al intenso calor, estos nómadas pastaban vacas y ovejas, seguían reglas de hospitalidad y acuerdos entre los mismos no más para compartir la tierra, estos también fueron hábiles comerciantes que llegaron a hacer acuerdos comerciales tanto con la Antigua Grecia como con la antigua China, por lo que se vieron muy favorecidos por la ruta de la seda, donde llegaron a vender camellos y caballos a las caravanas que allí pasaba, esto no más tenía identidad religiosa es muy similares como lo puede ser el sacrificio de animales además de darle gran importancia a la astrología para ver el futuro, veneraban también al señor eterno del cielo azul y veneraban a los chamanes. Fueron los nómadas los que lograron el surgimiento del caballo moderno capaz de tirar carros, posteriormente la gran innovación de los escitas fueron los jinetes montados gracias a las sillas de montar y a los estribos de metal, con ello vemos a unos nómadas criados en la violencia.
El tercer capítulo versa sobre los escitas y el fracaso que tuvo Persia al intentar dominarlos, fue el rey Ciro persa el que fue derrotado a manos de estos pueblos esteparios, inclusive fue tal la importancia de estos, dado que impulsaron la rebelión de los jonios en la península de anatolia, ya que se sintieron valientes al ver la derrota persa a manos de los escitas, por ello los persas nunca volvieron a desafiar a estos pueblos nómadas, los escitas se caracterizan por tener rasgos europeos y haber perfeccionado el arco compuesto y la silla de montar, era tal su destreza que eran usados como mercenarios por parte de los griegos, siendo que con estos últimos comerciaban en los puertos de Crimea, y los escitas también llevaron a cabo grandes gastos en objetos de oro además de producir una gran artesanía. En los últimos años de este pueblo estepario se fragmentaron, pero desarrollaron a los lanceros montados que posteriormente evolucionaría en los catafractos, el pueblo que reemplazó a los escitas, fueron los sármatas, estas nuevas tribunas representan ningún peligro para Roma, siendo que muchas veces esto se aliaron con este gran imperio.
en el cuarto capítulo tenemos al gran conquistador macedonio Alejandro magno, el cual, al contrario de los persas, supo derrotar a los escitas, este logró una victoria contra estos ya que tenía experiencia luchando contra estos, este desarrolló una táctica ideal para vencerlos, pese a la muerte de éste y el surgimiento de los gobiernos diádocos, los pueblos esteparios siguieron comerciando e inclusive llegaron a mejorar sus armaduras con el uso del hierro y a usar monedas, pero, las historias de Alejandro magno en contra de estos pueblos hicieron que surgieran leyendas como la de las Amazonas y la famosa Puerta de Hierro para aislar al mundo civilizado de estas razas inmundas, por lo que aquí está la primera prueba de representar a los no más como bárbaros.
en el quinto capítulo está la construcción de la gran muralla China, que también era una frontera entre El Mundo civilizado chino y los bárbaros nómadas, aunque esa primera muralla fue de tierra y no en la que conocemos actualmente, la muralla sirvió para imponer el servicio militar obligatorio En China, con los años las tribus esteparias se unieron para atacar las tierras al norte de China, estos pueblos serán llamados xiongnu, surge en estos años el primer conquistador de las estepas, los cuales logran grandes victorias en contra del Ejército chino han, los emperadores al darse cuenta de que no podían luchar contra estos empezaron a comerciar con los mismos entregando productos caros y tributos, con los años los xiongnu, se organizaron en guerreros y formaron el primer Ejército nómada el cual unió a diferentes tribus esteparias.
el sexto capítulo empieza con la descripción del primer ciudadano chino que entró al territorio estepario, posterior a esto tenemos una red organización del Ejército chino para luchar contra los nómadas para ello se mejoraron las ballestas, picas y se usaban armaduras de hierro, el objetivo esta guerra será recuperar las tierras al norte de la gran muralla, lo cual logran al dispersar a los xiongnus, esta es victoria de lograron poner fin a las incursiones no más, pero fueron muy costosas para los han, pese a la hambruna que estaban sufriendo los pueblos esteparios lograron resistir, Mientras tanto el imperio chino se reformaba para evitar su colapso, aunque en este proceso los pueblos esteparios aprovecharon la debilidad para tomar varias ciudades, con ello los chinos necesitaron otra vez sobornar a los pueblos no más y reclutar a varios de sus jinetes para luchar en contra de estos mismos, la posterior pacificación de las estepas chinas hizo que los chinos llegarán a lugares tan lejanos como Persia y Roma pero no evitó la posterior fragmentación del imperio han.
El séptimo capítulo es sobre los Kushan, los cuales se vieron favorecidos por la ruta de la seda y promovieron el budismo por toda Asia Central, estos llegaron a acuñar las primeras monedas basándose en modelos griegos, en estas monedas también se encontraron las primeras representaciones de deuda, este pueblo estepario llegó a comerciar con Roma puesto que estos querían evitar a los enemigos del imperio romano los persas, aunque como todos los pueblos esteparios la muerte de un gran líder hizo que se fragmentara este imperio, en el que posteriormente los sasánidas persas conquistaron mucho este territorio, lo que demuestran los Kushan, que en Asia central muchas de las personas eran budistas como se ven en los budas que dinamitaron los talibanes en el 2001.
El octavo capítulo es sobre los enemigos De Roma los partos, los cuales tenían una gran movilidad y supieron, primero tomar las tierras seléucidas y posteriormente propiciar varias derrotas al imperio romano, estos lograron controlar la ruta de la seda, estableciendo una nueva capital del imperio, aunque las guerras posteriores partas contra Roma hizo que perdieran muchas veces debido a las reformas dentro del Ejército romano lo que llevó a muchas invasiones romanas en Mesopotamia, aunque el emperador trajano por problemas internos nunca conquistó todo el imperio parto, con estas derrotas hizo que los sasánidas tomarán el poder, lo que produjo un nuevo rival más letal para Roma, lo que demuestra este capítulo es que la meseta iraní siempre ha sido importante en la geopolítica del mundo.
El noveno capítulo es sobre los Wei del norte, los cuales llegaron a construir muchos monasterios y estatuas budistas, estos eran descendientes de pueblos nómadas y lograron la difusión del budismo En China, estos abrazaron esta religión ya que los confucianos rechazaron enseñar a estos pueblos al ser vistos como bárbaros, los otros pueblos no más al norte de la muralla estaban muy fragmentados y no eran una amenaza para este pueblo, pero posteriormente los xiongnu tomaría varias capitales chinas ya que este territorio se encontraba muy fragmentado, esto resultó en un acontecimiento importante para la historia de China ya que se trasladaron la mayoría de pueblos más al sur del río amarillo donde estas tierras serán más ricas en seda y en arroz, los Wei del norte conservaron muchas tradiciones esteparias, este conocimiento de la guerra nómada hizo que muchos pueblos esteparios no pudieran enfrentarse a estos en igualdad de condiciones, aunque con diferentes reformas que alejaban a este reino de las prácticas esteparias llegó a una guerra civil dentro de este territorio.
el décimo capítulo es sobre los hunos blancos los cuales derrotaron muchas veces a los persas al punto de secuestrar a un Sha, estos serán descritos como unos pero con facciones más europeas, la única forma que encontraron los persas para apaciguar estos unos fue por medio de entrega de tesoros, pero esto no visto que el imperio persa estuvieran crisis, nuevamente estos unos aprovecharon el comercio a lo largo de la ruta de la seda, E Irán al igual que los chinos construyeron una gran muralla para detenerlos, otro pueblo de hunos llegó incluso a atacar varias veces a la India, los cuales veían a estos como bárbaros, posteriormente los hunos blancos llegaron a saquear Armenia e Irak, aunque estos unos posteriormente fueron derrotados a manos de los persas y los turcos.
El onceavo capítulo no sabrá sobre la derrota goda a manos de los unos lo que conlleva a un gran éxodo de este pueblo bárbaro a manos de los unos, este pueblo al igual que muchos no más tenían un gran manejo de las flechas y el caballo, este pueblo estepario posiblemente provenía de las estepas de Eurasia central a causa de la guerra entre diferentes clanes y tribus, la movilidad selló en busca de mejores pastos y agua, por lo que llegaron a las praderas húngaras donde se aliaron con diferentes pueblos bárbaros, en un principio los romanos vieron como un potencial aliado a los hunos ya que podían luchar contra otras tribus bárbaras, pese a los intentos de los hunos de conquistar Constantinopla sus murallas eran tan fuertes que era difícil hacerlo, por lo que los bizantinos usaban una gran arma que fue la diplomacia.
El doceavo capítulo trata sobre los dos hermanos hunos, bleda y atila, siendo este último el más conocido gracias a su carisma y a las grandes conquistas que llevó a cabo, para esto primero asesinó a su hermano y a cualquier posible rival, para sus posteriores batallas fue ayudado de caballería e infantería pesada, la primera acción de atila fue asolar más a los Balcanes como forma de recoger más tributo de Bizancio, pese a que no capturó Constantinopla sí logró humillar este imperio y recoger un tributo oneroso, todo cambió cuando la emperatriz Honoria quiso casarse con atila, por lo que a ti la emprendió una campaña hacia Roma para casarse con la emperatriz, aunque con la posterior muerte de este nómada se fragmentó el imperio de atila, aunque sus incursiones llevarían posteriormente al fin del imperio romano.
El treceavo capítulo es la nueva amenaza que tiene los bizantinos los avaros, estos se llegaron a asentar en lo que es la actual Hungría, estos fueron los predecesores de los magiares, los avaros mejoraron los arqueros a caballo con mejoras monturas y estribos, pese a eso los sábados no pudieron tomar Constantinopla y su kanato vería sufrir a manos de Carlomagno, posteriormente los Balcanes estarían habitados por eslavos y búlgaros, con estos últimos se usó la clásica táctica de sobornarlos con riquezas y oro, los magiares también llegaron a asolar Europa por mucho tiempo antes de que fueran derrotados por Otón I, posteriormente este pueblo también aceptaría el cristianismo al igual que los búlgaros. Los jázaros fueron un pueblo estepario muy importante para Bizancio puesto que luchaba contra su enemigo el imperio persa, además que posteriormente lograrían rechazar a los árabes en el Cáucaso por lo que este pueblo era un tipo de escudo para los bizantinos estos también aprovecharon el comercio entre el mar Báltico y el mar caspio, este pueblo posteriormente se convertiría al judaísmo, posteriormente se describe un poco sobre la historia de la Rus de Kiev y las relaciones con los bizantinos.
En el catorceavo capítulo tenemos a los Kaghans turcos y su relación con los emperadores de la dinastía Tang, estos turcos llegaron a desafiar muchas veces a los chinos, estos eran muy buenos con el metal del hierro, estos al igual que los fondos blancos llegaron a dominar la ruta de la seda y dieron origen al lenguaje turco actual, al igual que los sábados mejoraron las sillas de montar y usaban estribos de metal, aunque fuera un jinetes mucho más mortíferos que sus antecesores, aunque estos pueblos turcos fueron muchas veces derrotados por los chinos que usaron a los mismos turcos en contra de estos, un posterior emperador chino empezó a idear las primeras tácticas de guerra para suprimir a estos pueblos esteparios llegando al punto de que lo están volvieran a pacificar las estepas chinas y prosperar gracias a la ruta de la seda, aunque los tank no se salvaron de que los turcos tomarán una vez su capital, por lo que dejó a la dinastía tang totalmente destrozada.
En él quinceavo capítulo encontramos la primera batalla entre la caballería bizantina y la caballería turca, donde los árabes tuvieron la ventaja gracias al uso de la caballería turca, encontramos así un contexto de las diferentes dinastías árabes y su difícil dominio de las tierras turcas, en la que posteriormente los pueblos turcos abrazan el islam adaptándolo a su forma esteparia de vivir, aunque estos pueblos no se salvaron de ser esclavos necesarios para la dinastía abasí, los turcos admiraron mucho el islam y aprendieron también de este, el ideal de este pueblo era seguir la cultura árabe y promoverla cosa que posteriormente hicieron con los turcos selyúcidas.
El dieciseisavo capítulo, es sobre los turcos y el lucias los cuales logran derrotar a los bizantinos en la batalla de Manzikert, lo que supuso el colapso bizantino en el Asia Menor y el ascenso de los turcos en anatolia, pese a que los árabes dominaban El Mundo islámico la aparición de Selyuk, dio pie al origen de la organización del primer estado turco musulmán de Eurasia, su expansión fue tal que llegaron a atacar y saquear santuarios al norte de la India, posteriormente invadirían Armenia y tomarían la Bagdad que estaba bajo las manos de los chiitas, al igual que los hititas se dieron cuenta que la meseta de anatolia era muy parecida a la tierra de donde provenían, por lo que era necesario derrotar a los bizantinos, cosa que lograron pero no supieron aprovechar ya que posteriormente se fragmentarían los servicios en diferentes sultanatos, muchos cristianos de anatolia se sometieron a los turcos e inclusive se llegaron a convertir al islam cosa que no pasó en la India donde la religión hindú estaba ya muy arraigada en este pueblo, aunque con un mayor ascenso de los turcos se dio inicio a la primera cruzada.
Por mucho tiempo existía la idea de un rey en Medio Oriente que llegaría a salvar a los cristianos su nombre era preste Juan, y este es el tema del capítulo 17, donde se ha guardaba la esperanza de la llegada de este rey a causa de los fracasos de las cruzadas, y es que en esta época un kan derrotaría a los turcos selyúcidas por lo que muchos cristianos asociaron a este can con preste Juan, este nuevo Khan unificó a los diferentes kanatos, que habían en ese momento en Asia central, los khitan, abrazaron el budismo y respetaron otras religiones aunque no pudieron derrotar definitivamente a los chinos. En esa época surgiría la dinastía Song la cual prefería la paz y la diplomacia, además de llevar a cabo un gran comercio con Egipto e India, donde se desarrolló una gran industria del hierro y la cerámica, pero esta dinastía carecía de los medios militares para restaurar sus fronteras al norte de la muralla.
El capítulo 18 es sobre la vida de cómo Temujin se convirtió en el gran Gengis Khan, dónde se nos muestra que los pueblos mongoles eran una minoría y no eran tan poderosos en las estepas mongolas frente a otros pueblos como los turcos o los tártaros, el gran logro de Gengis Khan fue unificar las diferentes tribus esteparias qué luchaba en contra de sí, se nos describen un poco de la biografía de este gran mongol así como su personalidad y sus características como el uso de chamanes o el respeto de otras religiones mientras que no cuestionan las prácticas mongolas, una de las grandes características de este pueblo nómada es que en empezaron a usar armas de asedio y por supuesto masacraron a cualquier pueblo que se resistiera.
El capítulo 19 es sobre las conquistas mongolas empezando por las diferentes ciudades que habían a lo largo de la ruta de la seda, Gengis Khan logró crear un Ejército mucho más disciplinado y organizado en comparación de sus antecesores esteparios, el Ejército mongol al principio atacó a Xi Xia, aunque les costó ya que no contaban con muy buenas armas de aceite, posteriormente vencieron a los Jin, un Sha de Persia subestimó mucho a los mongoles pensando que podía ganarles pero finalmente fue derrotado gracias a la gran logística del imperio mongol que logró capturar Samarcanda y poner fin al imperio corasmio.
El capítulo 20 es sobre los sucesores de Gengis Khan los cuales empezaron una marcha hacia la actual Rusia, donde debieron enfrentarse a los cumanos, no obstante, muchos de estos pueblos nómadas se unieron a los mongoles, una de las grandes innovaciones de los mongoles para asediar los pueblos de Rusia fue el uso de la pólvora negra, posteriormente conquistaría Kiev, una gran victoria simbólica, y que supuso un cambio en la historia de Ucrania y Rusia, después de esto empezarán las campañas mongolas contra Polonia y Hungría, donde la derrota estos últimos se debió a que expulsaron a los cumanos, los únicos que podían hacer frente a los mongoles, aunque no se expandieron mucho más los mongoles a causa de su logística y que no había mucho forraje para sus caballos. Igualmente, Europa no era tan rica en comparación de China o Medio Oriente por lo que no era tan importante para los mongoles este continente.
El capítulo 21 se centra sobre el saqueo mongol de Bagdad, donde para los musulmanes el nuevo enemigo no eran los cruzados sino el imperio mongol, el cual logró dar fin al califato abasí.

[Caleb Fogler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thorough and expansive study of the Eurasian Steppes and the people that originate there. I like how the author is able to relate the events of the book into historical context of readers who have limited familiarity to this subject. Lastly the author also excels at tying the events and people focused in this story to the wider world and the how their impact affects people today.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a quote from Martyn Rady on the reverse of my copy says, this is an "encyclopaedic account". This is undoubtedly true. Harl's attention to detail and range is excellent. This book covers the impact of Steppe nomads in the bronze age, the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Xiongnu, Turks, all the way through to Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and Tamerlane.

Yet, Harl's efforts to create an encyclopaedic account with enormous details, emphasises narrative over analysis. At the end of each chapter, after the narrative, Harl offers some analysis but these passages are disappointingly short. The subtitle of the book 'the nomadic tribes who shaped civilisation' is not lived up to. The ways in which the Steppe nomads shaped civilisation is not a major focus of the book. The epilogue attempts, briefly, a synthesis of the period covered, but the book chronically lacked a take-away 'big idea'.

Further, the readability of the book is limited by two things. First, the lack of maps. The detailed chronologies rely on a knowledge of the regions being discussed to understand the range and regions covered. Without reference maps this is difficult. Second, the lack of pictures. Less important than the maps, but reference pictures would have aided the reading experience.

[عبد الله القصير · Rating 4 out of 5]

عن تاريخ القبائل الرحل التي عاشت وسط أسيا وحروبها مع الإمبراطوريات المجاورة، الصينية والفارسية والرومية. كتاب امبراطوريات السهوب يسرد تاريخ ممالك القبائل الرحل هذه، من وقت السكيثيون حتى الاتراك والمغول ونهاية بتيمورلك وعاصمته سمرقند. الكتاب مفصل وكثير الأحداث لكنه ممتع.

[Clint]

Lotta desultory wars happening in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

[Harry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

Ever since I read Frankopan's The Silk Road , my fascination fell upon the peoples of the vast Eurasian Steppes and their enormous impact upon world history.

From the Scythians, Huns, to the Xiongnu, Turks and Mongolians, and from Attila, Genghis Khan and Timur, the lives of so many people were changed, as well as perished.

Yet despite the upheavals these horse archer conquerors wrought upon sedentary civilisations for millennia, the impact they produced on cross-civilisation transfer of technology, wealth and knowledge were equally significant for the modern age.

Without the peace of the Mongol conquests, arguably no international eurasian trade would have flourished, no Marco Polo, no inspiration on the West to pursue trade relations with faraway Cathay and the Indies, and no catalyst to the Western dominated sciences, which were only made possible by the pursuit of trade and discovery.

Enter the Age of Sail and the advent of Western supremacy for the next half or so millenium after the death of Timur.

Harl accomplished a marvel of historical narrative by weaving all these disparate strands of tribes and khanates, personalities and characters into a seamless tapestry of nations rising and falling, massacres and rebuilding, and the flourishing of the arts and architecture. Again, for all the destruction caused by the Steppe peoples, they nearly always subsequently brought about rebirth. And Harl captures this in epic proportions.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were a few times I checked the publication date on this book, surprised to see 2023. I felt like I'd already read this book in my adolescence, perhaps. The stories and details and images my brain created were straight from my 7th grade textbooks.

I found that the first third of the book flies by, and the 2nd two-thirds took more effort. I wished throughout reading that it included maps of the areas in discussion, but there isn't a single map in the entire book.

Dan Carlin of Hardcore History has a quote on the front, which is maybe why I know Kenneth Harl's name? I've listened to Hardcore History's stories on Kublai Kahn and so many others.

I devoured these pages, my obsession with the Silk Road and the trade of religion expanding to a greater understanding of military technologies, strategies, etc. Moreover, I am fascinated how the steppes were a blend of cultural backgrounds to the point that caste was determined not by race, or religion, or even language, but to whom your allegiance was to. Slavery was abundant, but so was the opportunity to buy or work your way out of slavery.

This book has also expanded my understanding of the collisions between the Ottoman, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Russian, and Persian empires.

Critiques are: 1) still very little insight into women during this time. 2) barely any mention of Judaism, which-- maybe he doesn't want to touch it with a 10ft sword-- but its birth, so to speak, is from a nomadic levant tribe, and its succession as a religion was due to its spread along the steppes.

Harl does not dive into religion much, except to share Tengrism with his readers, offering this monotheistic religion as the likely predecessor to monotheism of The West. There's a sprinkling of Zoroastrian history, and a healthy dumping of political Islam and Christianity. But Harl does a great job sticking to the trade and war exchanges among the religious tension.

This is a great reference to keep alongside Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads.

[James S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another book for which we can thank Covid-19. The author "wrote" this book during the pandemic. I say "wrote" because the book seems to be mostly an undifferentiated regurgitation of highly technical research the author seems to have conducted from his home during 2020. This is a representative sample:

The language of the texts reveals that the ancestors of the Hittites had departed at a time when PIE was still spoken as the koine across the Pontic-Caspian steppes. Hittite was not affected by shifts in pronunciation that gave rise to the division of PIE into Centum and Satem language families in ca. 2500 BC. Hittite, along with Luvian and Palaic, exhibits many archaic features that were common in early PIE. Hittite grammar lacks the dual. It recognizes only two genders for nouns and pronouns (animate and inanimate rather than the three of masculine, feminine, and neuter in other Indo-European languages), and two tenses (as opposed to four to six in later Indo-European languages). Most remarkably, laryngeals, long posited by philologists as a class of consonantal sounds in early PIE, are found in Hittite, whereas they were abandoned in other Indo-European languages. (32)

The entire book, almost 500 pages, is like this. Not recommended.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and well written account of the Eurasian nomadic tribes and their role in history.

This isn’t a subject of specific interest for me, but it is an area of history where I felt there were some holes in my knowledge and this book felt like a good opportunity to remedy that. The book didn’t foster a newfound interest in the topic, but it did fill the aforementioned holes, and did so in an intriguing and thorough manner.

I want to specifically appreciate the research that went into this book, since due to the widespread nature of the content (historically and geographically) it’s a tough subject on which to write nonfiction without either making the book way too dense and unpalatable for typical nonfiction readers or making it too general as to be of any use to any but the least educated of reader. The book split the difference well, and that’s no easy feat.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading about history, so I enjoyed the book. It is a complete documentation of nomadic tribes of the Steppes, a topic about which I know little, and the author does not miss anything.

This may be the problem with it.

The author admits up front that the topic of discussion is not his specialty, but as a historian and professor, he has the skillset to apply to new subject matter. He is a thorough, everything is in order, and every topic is covered. However, as the topic is new to him, the author doesn't know what to leave out to make the book presentable. For someone like me who was hoping for an introductory volume to the topic, I often got lost in the details. However, it deserves four stars as if I ever have a question on the topic that I want to look up, I know where to find it and much of the book was fascinating.

I received this book from Netgalley.

[Hannah Trower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fills a gap in at least my history knowledge/reading shelves, but possibly more generally by discussing nomadic tribes from Proto-Indo-Europeans to Scythians to Huns to Mongols and Tamerlane, covering a lot of ground in between. Recommend to anyone interested in learning more about these horse archers, their societies, why they were so militarily successful, and why they were not. Not all that dense compared to other history books that I often read, this is clearly written for a wider audience, but it is thick with names, some of which are familiar---Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, etc---but many of which are not.

[Mab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has taken A Long Time to read, and I can't completely blame the baby for that. It's extremely dense, and covers an absolutely vast sweep of both time and place. It's slightly old-fashioned in feel, very much a history of great men and great battles, but by the end I was won over by its sheer scope and ambition.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm uncertain what rating to give this book.

Harl's work show that he did a fast amount of research. He also crafts chapters that tell compelling and largely self-contained histories.

But I'm sad that there is no overarching story. The subtitle calls this a "history," but it feels to me like a set of histories. And each tells a story, but I want more analysis.

I also want maps. Although I understand the logic of each story emerging from a lecture, I cannot see why each was not accompanied by at least one map.

All in all, I did not find this book rewarding although it was full of information.

[Spencer Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was hard to follow with the whirlwind of unfamiliar names it threw at me, but it expanded my view of world history more than probably any book I’ve ever read. lt makes me think think of crash course world history’s trope “mongols - we’re the exception!” and how really, nomadic tribes have always been the exception and counterpart to every sedentary Eurasian empire. The Mongols are just the most well known. Don’t expect a deep dive into any particular group - instead enjoy a great panoramic look at nomadic groups from the Scythians to the Xiongu and the Mongols, and see how they played a central role in shaping politics everywhere from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean. But also be ready to pause and look things up every 10 minutes.

[Matthew Stienberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The overlap of the steppe conquerors to much of the history I knew was fascinating! The reach of the horse lords was long indeed! A wonderful primer on the nomadic empires!