The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia by Professor René Grousset (PDF)

Description

.While the early history of the steppe nomad is shrouded in obscurity, The Empire of the Steppes brings both the general reader and the specialist the majestic sweep, grandeur and the overriding intellectual grasp of Grousset’s original. Hailed as a masterpiece when first published in French in 1939, and in English in 1970, this great work of synthesis brings before us the people of the steppes, dominated by three mighty figures—Atilla, Genghiz Khan, and Tamberlain—as they marched through ten centuries of history, from the borders of China to the frontiers of the West. The book includes nineteen maps, a comprehensive index, notes, and bibliography. The late Rene Grousset was director of the Cernuschi Museum and curator of the Muse Guimet in Paris, a member of the French Academy and author of many works on Asia Minor and the Near East.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book, an extremely lengthy and thorough account of the empires great and less great, well-known (Mongol), less well-known (Seljuk Turk, Hsia-Hsia), to downright obscure (the Shaybanid Khanate, Juan-Juan, Uigur) that ruled over the entire steppe region ranging from Korea to Hungary from East to West and from the taiga of Siberia to India and Egypt from North to South.The scope of the work is massive, but the names of the empires are hard to remember, much less their often ephemeral rulers (almost all of whose work was wasted within a few short generations because they divided up their kingdom into appenages among all of their sons which encouraged some neighboring sedentary empire (like China or Iran) to intervene in a succession dispute with what by the end seems like painfully predictable results. Also painfully predictable is the way that sedentary empires (China comes in particularly harshly here) support the most barbaric tribes possible in order to rid themselves of weakened barbarians who are protecting them from the really bad ones. The results are painful and unsurprising, as some fierce horde of pure nomads sweeps down on civilization building pyramids of skulls and killing hundreds of thousands of people, raping and pillaging at will, all because of the short-sided stupidity of some court eunuchs who are engaged in petty political plots and unaware of the massive consequences of their blundering. Why didn’t they read this book? What made them think that *they* were different than the other dozens of powerful states brought down by the exact same error? That sort of thought goes through the mind of a reader often in the course of this lengthy work, which retains its power and excellence in translation (it was originally written in French).If you want one book to explain the history of the nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of the steppes of the time between the Huns and the Manchu (say, between 300 BC and early 1900′s), this is the book to get. It is a masterpiece of thoughtful research, insightful analysis, and breathtaking detail. You won’t remember 90% of the names in the book by the time you are finished with it, but it scarcely matters, as the book is an epic history nonetheless.

⭐This 687 page book is well described in the title as it deals with a huge slice of the Asian continent under the bold guise of providing a History of Central Asia with the ambitious title of The Empire of the Steppes. In this well written book a discerning reader can poke about amongst his or her many well known figures who shot to the top, like shooting stars in the huge firmament of the Asian steppes.Its span goes from Alexius Comnenus of Constantinople to Temujin in Mongolia and of his rise to power as Jenghiz Khan with his slow and unsteady rise to power and the constant feuding between him and Jamuqa. In 1201 Jamuqa proclaimed himself the gur-khan of Mongolia (the universal khan) The detailed description of the resultant fighting is very well told, including he imperial inauguration of the common law code, the quriltai of 1206. Even that Venetian merchant Marco Polo gets a much more than a mention in passing.mention. The Nestorian christians are also covered at some length. It returns to the Constantinople of Emperor Michael Palaeologus. A very helpful addition for those of us with but little grasp of the geographical reach of these powerful but feuding rulers are the pages of reconstructed maps, identifying the extent of several of these contending fiefdoms.With the rise of Tamer the Lame, born 1336 just south of Samarkand the author heads of into the territory of the transoxania. Tamer emerges from obscurity at the age of 25 into a fight with Mir Husain but, his skill for duplicity notwithstanding, he still had to strike an accommodation with the Mongols of Jenghiz Khan until, just before he died in 1405, he got very close to conquering China.While the canvas on which the author writes is very large in the physical and chronological sense it really is quite a riveting book for those with an interest in the region between Korea and Constantinople

⭐Very well researched book. But very difficult to read, specially at the beginning. It is a book for scholars written by a scholar that is an expert in the History of Central Asia. His attention to detail is amazing but sometimes can be very difficult to follow.This is a book only for people with a good knowledge of history. To understand this book you have to read a lot of books before, on the history of Central Asia, China, the Silk Road and the Middle East. The book mentions a lot of places and rivers in Central Asia that are very difficult to find in a map. It has a lot of maps. But some are not very good and they do not show all the places he refers to. It’s lack of good maps forces you to look at a lot of maps on the Internet to understand where are the places the author is talking about.After you get through the first 80 pages, the books becomes easier to read and it is really fascinating. If you are interested in Central Asia this is a book you must read. But no a book for people with a light knowledge of the history of the area.

⭐Large, much detailed reference tome. Summarizes much history and information.

⭐The timing of this book’s writing, the 1930’s is important. As is the author’s skills with the obscure Uighur language, in which the records of the time were recorded. One has to wonder how many of those ancient texts perished in the “cultural revolution.”It is a difficult read, but an incredibly complex subject spanning early Mongol raiders to Kublai Khan and the 5th century movements which pushed “Bararians” across the Rhine, beginning the end for imperial Rome. Yes, just the dust of history.

⭐Very good.

⭐Fascinating, but a bit heavy going at times

⭐I read this book after covering three volumes on the history of Central Asia by Christoph Baumer. How does this compare?Firstly, it was much more affordable and in much smaller print compared to three massive and expensive leather coffee table volumes by Christoph Baumer.Secondly, the book does not cover the ancient or early Medieval history of Central Asia in much detail like Baumer does nor does it focus on any other steppe civilization as much as it does on the Mongols. In fact, it is more detailed in that field that Baumer. So I would describe this as a book on the history of the Mongols and Mongol-related empires and khanates up until their absorption by the Manchu empire (a greater time span than Baumer). In spite of the massive amounts of info found in Baumer’s books, I can honestly say that I have learned even more on the history of the region. Please keep in mind though, that this book might be outdated since it was published in 1970.Therefore, if you seek a comprehensive book on the history of the Mongols and all the empires, kingdoms and khanates related to them directly or indirectly I would strongly suggest it. But you won’t find much information on the culture, economy, religion of any other civilization really. For that read Baumer’s books.O livro chegou rápido e em ótimas condições de entregaExcellent and well written history of the region

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