Nomads and Crusaders: AD 1000-1368

by Archibald R. Lewis

"[A] fine, arresting book with a clear and novel thesis and a firm grasp of geography. Good stuff, in short... strongly recommended." â William H. McNeill"The reader will find here useful information and much food for thought; a book of such a broad scope is rare and has much to recommend it." â Speculum"... encyclopedic... there is no book quite like this one." â Choice"... a colorful canvas depicting the torrential movements of Eurasian warriors and merchants on ship-boards and horseback between Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific coasts, between streams of accumulated goods and tensions, religious fervor and insatiable greed... "â Ural-Altaic Yearbook"A healthy antidote to the parochialism that characterizes so much of the run-of-the-mill output of medieval history... " â American Historical ReviewEmphasizing geographical, maritime, institutional, and economic factors, Lewis presents a wide-ranging story of the complex rise and fall of civilizations and explores new conceptual frontiers in the study of world history.

Genres: History, Medieval History

213 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[Marty Ross]

So packed with information in the 200 pages, touching on history from regions of the globe that I have limited knowledge of, I'm not sure I agree that it is a well argued book. Whereas a book like Guns, Germs and Steel was exhaustive and well-argued (over-argued?), this was trim, with plenty of "whats", but not so strong on "whys".
I suppose it doesn't help that I don't fundamentally agree with his emphases of why human history progresses the way it does. For instance, the power he lends to the spiritual leadership of the papacy and other religious leaders, I find unconvincing. The Franks were an expansive power before and after their conversion to Christianity. In general, I think those powers which can expand will do so at the expense of neighbors because that is the nature of man. Concepts like religion only build justifications. The Mongols and Turks needed no spiritual push to do what they did.
Maybe it's just I find the title misleading, because having read the book, I find little difference in my mind between Nomads and Crusaders. They were just names we've given to invaders that were after the same things invaders have always been after; wealth and power.
I did find it very useful to build a picture in my mind of what conquest did for civilizations regarding control of trade routes and what different areas lacked or had in spades regarding resources. But beyond that, I'm just not sure it had much to say.

[Antigone]

Dry as toast and maritime-heavy...however, if you're interested in the glacial pace of tribal evolution, this informative chronology effectively points out how little our collective civilizations have changed and the way, to this day, these world powers keep falling back on strategies in agriculture, politics, trade and territorial expansion that have worked for them in the past. Is geography destiny? If not, how is it we're still saying: "Location. Location. Location."?

[Rudyard L.]

This is an excellent book. It analyzes the Rise of the West to world domination by looking at the Early Middle Ages as a proxy to understand why the Renaissance overtook the West and none of the other Eurasian civilizations. It is good history writing and a nice analysis. I wish it continued a bit further into the 15th century as well as giving religious affairs a greater look. I recommend it for fans of McNeil’s work.