1 option
The Eurasian steppe : people, movement, ideas / Warwick Ball.
LIBRA DS329.4 .B35 2021
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Ball, Warwick, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Steppes--Eurasia--History.
- Steppes.
- Steppe archaeology--Eurasia.
- Steppe archaeology.
- Eurasia.
- Genre:
- History.
- Physical Description:
- xvi, 414 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 25 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2021]
- Summary:
- "From nomadic peoples to conquering empires, from tales of Amazon women to art nouveau, and from golden grave goods to the formation of countries that still exist today, Ball shows how the steppe has continually shaped Europe's destiny."--Provided by publisher.
- Contents:
- Machine generated contents note: 1. The Nature of the Steppe. Some Geographical Observations
- The steppe
- The way of the nomad
- Waves, hordes and movement
- Dominoes and boundaries
- Nomads and conquest
- The steppe and trade
- Language and people
- 2. The Beginnings of Eurasia. Permanence, Movement and Prehistory
- Permanence in a nomadic environment
- The beginning of the nomad cultures
- The dance of the steppe: movement over vast areas
- 3. Indo-Europe. Prehistory and Language
- Philosopher's stone or can of worms: the search for the
- Indo-Europeans
- Histories in prehistory
- The devil in the divine: is there a common Indo-European identity?
- The great Tokharian trek
- Westward-ho: hard-wired to win
- 4. History and Myth. Cimmerians, Scythians and Sarmatians; Gog, Magog and Excalibur
- The Scythian homeland
- To the western steppe
- From Kurdistan to India and China: the Scythian kingdoms in the east
- The western steppe
- Contact and conflict: the Greek states of the Black Sea
- The Black Sea Scythian kingdoms
- Sarmatian warriors
- The Scythian and Sarmatian legacy
- 5. Amazons. Women of the Steppe and the Idea of the Female Warrior
- Greeks bearing myths
- Matriarchy in `Old Europe'
- Evidence from archaeology
- Evidence from ethnology
- Ottoman women: a case study
- The idea of the warrior woman
- A `lande of Amazony'?
- 6. The Art of the Steppe. From Animal Style to Art Nouveau
- Gold
- The main elements of Scythian and Sarmatian art
- Origins of the animal style
- Later survivals of steppe art
- 7. Twilight of the Gods. The Huns, Attila and the End of Antiquity
- The end of civilisation?
- Origins in the east
- The Huns in central Asia, Persia and India
- A Hun kingdom in Europe
- The kingdom of Attila
- Walling off the barbarian
- Legacy of the Huns
- 8. Descendants of the She-wolf. The Emergence of Turkish-speaking Peoples
- What is a `Turk'?
- Huns, wolves, caves and princesses
- Turks and Buddhism: the Northern Wei of China
- The first Eurasian Empire
- Revival under the Uighurs
- From slaves to conquerors
- Prosperity, power and civilisation: the lure of Islam
- 9. European Nations rrom the Meppe. Nomads and Isariy Medieval Europe
- Finns, Karelians, Estonians and epic identities
- The Avars and European knighthood
- The Bulgars and the beginning of statehood in Russia
- The formation of the Bulgarian Empire
- From Siberia to Holy Roman Empire: the formation of Hungary
- Polovtsian dances
- 10. The Atlantis of the Steppe. The Khazar Empire and its Legacy
- Origin of the Khazars: Cossack or Caesar?
- Conversion to Judaism
- A route paved with silver
- The cities of Khazaria
- Cans of worms and the Khazar legacy
- 11. The `Men from Hell'. Setting the West Ablaze: The Mongols in Europe
- An `Age of Catastrophe'
- Dress rehearsal: the Western Liao
- From `just and resolute butchet' to `Buddhist holy man'
- The invasion of Europe
- Prester John and the Crusades
- Xanadu to the Volga
- 12. Golden Hordes. The Tatar Khanates of Russia
- Under the shadow of Genghis Khan: the house of Tamerlane
- A people of Europe?
- Poland
- Lithuania and the Horde versus Muscovy and Crimea
- Europe's last Mongol state
- The last migration
- 13. A Modern Steppe Empire. Russian Identity and the Steppe
- Russia east or west?
- The Mongol legacy
- Muscovy becomes a steppe empire
- Eurasia as politics
- The steppe, archaeology and identity in Russia
- The steppe, art and identity in Russia.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 368-393) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.
- ISBN:
- 9781474488044
- 1474488048
- 9781474488068
- 1474488064
- OCLC:
- 1268139026
- Publisher Number:
- 99993275421
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.