Mongols, Turks, and Others: Eurasian Nomads and the Sedentary World

by Reuven Amitai-Preiss (Editor)

The interaction between the Eurasian pastoral nomads - most famously the Mongols and Turks - and the surrounding sedentary societies is a major theme in world history. Nomads were not only raiders and conquerors, but also transmitted commodities, ideas, technologies and other cultural items. At the same time, their sedentary neighbours affected the nomads, in such aspects as religion, technology, and political culture. The essays in this volume use a broad comparative approach that highlights the multifarious nature of nomadic society and its changing relations with the sedentary world in the vicinity of China, Russia and the Middle East, from antiquity into the contemporary world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

572 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2004

Reviews

[Bryn Hammond]

A hodgepodge of essays. Patchy - for me - but the one by Gideon Shelagh I think a quiet revolution. It's about steppe identity, nomad ideology (uses those phrases) and concludes that the decision to go nomad was often a 'political strategy'. That is, on the hoof you were free.