This is a comprehensive and detailed historical account of the Eurasian Steppes and the diverse people and rulers over the ages. Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Tamerlane, and other well known figures we’ve come across in our study of history. As well, there were loads and loads of other characters that it was hard to keep track and was frankly overwhelming. But I can see how the immense research and details would be an amazing delight for historians and diehard history buffs! Overall, I’m glad I read the book even though my eyes glazed over frequently and page turning became an automatic syndrome. I got as much as I could without getting bogged down and appreciated the meticulous insight into the people and warriors of the Steppes and their prowess and resilience over hundreds of years. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A well researched and well written account of the Eurasian nomadic tribes and their role in history.

This isn’t a subject of specific interest for me, but it is an area of history where I felt there were some holes in my knowledge and this book felt like a good opportunity to remedy that. The book didn’t foster a newfound interest in the topic, but it did fill the aforementioned holes, and did so in an intriguing and thorough manner.

I want to specifically appreciate the research that went into this book, since due to the widespread nature of the content (historically and geographically) it’s a tough subject on which to write nonfiction without either making the book way too dense and unpalatable for typical nonfiction readers or making it too general as to be of any use to any but the least educated of reader. The book split the difference well, and that’s no easy feat.

"Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization" by Kenneth W. Harl uncovers the overlooked yet remarkable history of Eurasian barbarian nomads. This book highlights figures like Attila, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane, whose legacies shaped global civilization, fostering empires, Silk Road trade, and cultural exchanges across Europe, China, and the Middle East.

Professor Kenneth W. Harl expertly narrates the journey of these tenacious tribes, spanning from their origins to the early modern era. Their resilience in the face of harsh steppes conditions cultivated adaptable societies, while their prowess in warfare spanned fifteen centuries, impacting global dynamics.

"Empires of the Steppes" not only resurrects forgotten stories but also illuminates the collective impact of Huns, Mongols, Magyars, Turks, Scythians, Goths, and more on the modern world. Kenneth's engaging narrative revitalizes history, spotlighting the essential role of these nomadic civilizations in shaping the course of human progress.

A very readable but comprehensive work of history. Our nonfiction book club will love it. So we are definitely ordering for our library.

I enjoy reading about history, so I enjoyed the book. It is a complete documentation of nomadic tribes of the Steppes, a topic about which I know little, and the author does not miss anything.

This may be the problem with it.

The author admits up front that the topic of discussion is not his specialty, but as a historian and professor, he has the skillset to apply to new subject matter. He is a thorough, everything is in order, and every topic is covered. However, as the topic is new to him, the author doesn't know what to leave out to make the book presentable. For someone like me who was hoping for an introductory volume to the topic, I often got lost in the details. However, it deserves four stars as if I ever have a question on the topic that I want to look up, I know where to find it and much of the book was fascinating.

I received this book from Netgalley.

A very interesting and comprehensive history of nomadic tribes of the Steppes who influenced and helped shaped groups and societies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia for millennia. The scope of their influence in developing technology, warfare, toppling and building empires, as well as the spread of information is often overlooked and this work gives people a new appreciation of it.

In the beginning, there is a lot of information about linguistic groups, how they spread out, diverged from one another and influenced one another. This was confusing to follow. But otherwise, I found it informative and interesting. You are not going to read it one sitting but there's a lot of information that is worth coming back for multiple reads.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

There's a lot of good information in this book. Kenneth W. Harl takes us on a tour of various nomadic tribes/empires, from the well-known like the Huns and Mongols to the more obscure like the Xiongnu and Hephthalites, and taken on substance the book is very worthy. However, I must fervently hope that the ARC version I read will be significantly better-edited by the time it is published.

The foreword mentions that the book is essentially a "bookification" of Harl's lecture notes on the subject, and I think it shows in certain ways. There is a lot of repetition. For instance, the book parenthetically identifies the frequently mentioned Jaxartes and Oxus rivers as the modern-day Syr Darya and Amu Darya nearly every time they come up, to an absurd degree -- it started to make it feel like the proverbial too-clever middle school science report where the student puts the scientific name (<i>Canis lupus</i>, etc) after every animal mentioned, every time, to pad out the word count. The extreme (but not universal) repetition of this makes me wonder if he had the modern names in parentheses the first time they ever came up in any particular lecture, and that just got blindly carried into the book's text. In other places he specifies in two consecutive sentences that events took place in 435; in two consecutive sentences (in two different ways) mentions that Kublai Khan was Genghis Khan's grandson; within a few pages repeats the same story of Genghis Khan ordering all living creatures in the valley of Bamyan slain, in retribution for the death of his favorite grandson; and redundantly translates Kara Koyonlu (Black Sheep Turks) twice within about a page (and later alternatively translates it as Black Sheep Turkmens).

All these things (as well as misspelling "Mauryan" as "Mauyran" literally every time it occurs, among a number of other spelling and grammatical errors) could be improved by a more thorough edit, so I must hope that the ARC I read is particularly rough. Being able to identify certain errors makes me worry about how much of the book has other errors that I can't identify, not being an expert, which undermines the whole experience. With a better polish on it, this could be a really fine book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my copy of Empires of the Steppes by Kenneth W. Hart in exchange for an honest review. It publishes August 1, 2023.
This is a very in-depth book that clearly was extremely well-researched. I learned about things I had never heard of in the first chapter! I found this to be fairly dry and dense, so be ready to settle in and focus. However, it is definitely worth looking into!

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 narrative discussion of one leader or significant hand holding on various aspects of the nomadic life. For me, I don't have enough background in this time and place in history to be able to glean major insight from Harl's story. This is in no way an indictment of Harl and the book. It is very well written and it is abundantly clear that Harl knows what he is talking about. For someone who has some background, this book is probably a must read and may lead many people to want to dig further into many of the characters Harl touches upon. It is a great book for certain audiences and it deserves five stars on scholarship alone.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.)

Empire of the Steppes is a densely informative and uber-comprehensive dive into the nomads of the Eurasian steppes and their impact on the world, with a particular emphasis on the great three conquerors: Attila, Genghis Kahn, and Tamerlane. It is not an easy book by any stretch. Be prepared for navigating through a seemingly unending forest of names as we move in space and time through a, well, “horde” of tribes, political groups, kingdoms, territories, individuals (many of whom are known my multiple names), sons, wives, cousins, cousins twice removed, second cousins three times removed, and so on. Honestly, as a lay reader of history, I eventually just relaxed and let the names wash over without worrying about where they fit in time and place so much. Not particularly rigorous, I know, but it made the read much more enjoyable. And I allowed myself a little frisson of excitable pride when I did recognize a group that fell in the middle range between well-known and wholly obscure: “Parthians? I know them!”

Another reason the book is not easy is that it shifts time quite a lot as Harl shows us links between people or groups. And when he introduces a new group he very often will go back in time and then bring us forward through their earliest known record, their migration into new areas, shifts into new ways of living, etc. until we’re brought up into the “present” time when they intersect with whatever was happening when they were first introduced into the narrative.

To be clear, these are not complaints, merely observations. I actually appreciate the author’s commitment to specific, detail, and fullness of story. And as I said, the thicket of names didn’t detract from the reading. And the author was never anything but clear and precise, and mostly engaging throughout. This is not “dry” reading or mere recitation of dates, names, and places by any stretch. Harl not only explains major events well and connects the incredibly complex web over time and geography, he also offers up many fascinating details and anecdotes. As for the time shifts, I’m not sure of how he could have avoided that, and in any case, I actually liked seeing how all these groups arrived at whenever/wherever they do rather than just have appear on the scene with no sense of their history. I’m OK with having to pay attention to my reading.

One absolute detriment to my reading was a lack of maps. I have to imagine this was due to my having an advanced reader copy, though usually such copies will say artwork is forthcoming. I can’t imagine a book so complex and so comprehensive being published without maps, so I’ll just assume they’ll be there. On the probably less-than-one-percent chance it is published without maps, then I absolutely recommend not starting it until you call up some maps at hand—believe me, you’ll need them, as often times one isn’t dealing with country borders (at least, not today’s countries) but with natural borders between territories—rivers, mountains, etc. I can sort out in my head where China, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. are, as well as many of the major cities named like Damascus or Constantinople or Samarkand. But the finer-grained geography of mountain passes, rivers that aren’t easily recognizable landmarks like the Ganges or Volga, etc. and I’m lost in space.

Dense as noted above. But thoroughly enjoyable and informative and thus recommended for anyone with interest in the particular topic or in general history of Asia/Europe

Well written and informative without being to much, the writing keeps you engaged and interested throughout the book.

There have been a lot of books written about the Mongols and Turks - fewer but still a considerable amount on Atilla and the Persians. This book certainly adds to those collections. Hart writes about the various empires in great detail and brings new information to the table. The book is obviously well researched and even a reader well-versed in these groups will learn new things.

But perhaps the most outstanding feature of Hart's Empires of the Steppes is how it fills in the gaps between these better known empires. I have taught world history for 20 years, and Hart introduced groups I had never even heard of while also providing a lot of new information about those I only barely knew. The wealth of information is impressive - the connection/education on little-known (at least to me) parts of history extensive.

That being said, this is not a book for beginners or the faint of heart. Because there is so much detail, it is not always easy to follow (more true of the first couple of chapters than later ones). But for the serious student of the region and the pre-modern era, this book is a good use of your time.

The author's, Kenneth Harl's, scholarship is excellent, but his book is nearly impenetrable. As a result, this book is not a good choice for general readers. However, historians who specialize in Asian history will enjoy this text, as will numismatical specialists (Mr. Harl's first love) and those who study language. One option for the general reader is to purchase "Empires of the Steppes" and skip immediately to the chapters on the great Khans. One interesting fact that will leap out at any reader of any portion of this text is that humans were almost constantly at war, whether over succession or against neighboring tribes.

This feels like an absolute must-read for any fan of global history. I strongly doubt that you’ll find anything more comprehensive about the many peoples that have emerged from the steppe, and the immense influence that they’ve managed to exert over several centuries and across several continents. At the very least, I personally consider this a must-add for the history section of my library.