Empire of Horses: The First Nomadic Civilization and the Making of China

The author of landmark histories such asGenghis Khan, Attila, andXanaduinvites us to discover a fertile period in Asian history that prefigured so much of the world that followed.
The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 bc they dominated the heart of Asia for four centuries, and changed the world in the process. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see these people as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese identity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their descendants helped destroy the Roman Empire under the leadership of Attila the Hun.
We don’t know what language they spoke, but they became known asXiongnu, orHunnu, a term passed down the centuries and surviving today as “Hun,” and Man uncovers new evidence that will transform our understanding of the profound mark they left on half the globe, from Europe to Central Asia and deep into China.
Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence,Empire of Horsestraces this civilization’s epic story and shows how this nomadic cultures of the steppes gave birth to an empire with the wealth and power to threaten the order of the ancient world.