Empires of the Steppes, Kenneth W. Harl
Empires of the Steppes, Kenneth W. Harl
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Empires of the Steppes

Author: Kenneth W. Harl

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Unabridged: 17 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/01/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

About Kenneth W. Harl

Kenneth W. Harl is Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University, New Orleans. He is one of the world’s foremost experts on steppes civilizations, Roman history and numismatics, and has written extensively on Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Viking culture. Empires of the Steppes will be his first full-length narrative history book for the trade.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joan on May 16, 2024

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) fo......more

Goodreads review by Brendan on July 04, 2023

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 n......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on November 02, 2023

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.. Reco......more

Goodreads review by Anderson on April 20, 2024

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. Whil......more

Goodreads review by Laurie on July 23, 2024

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