An epic history of how the socalled barbarians of the steppes shaped the modern world. A rollercoaster of historical narration History TodayThis 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 KingdomsA sweeping account of fortyfive centuries of nomadic tribes Gillian Tett Financial TimesFlips the script to present the booted feltcapped leathertrousered and kaftanwearing nomads as the bearers of civilisation . . . Harls exhaustively researched book will ensure they rejoin the narrative of world history Marc David Baer GuardianThe 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 worlds greatest conquerors Attila the Hun Genghis Khan and Tamerlane among others. And their deeds still resonate today. Indeed these nomads built longlasting 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 everready 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.