{"product_id":"9781557863249","title":"The Perilous Frontier Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757","description":"\u003ch3\u003eStudies in Social Discontinuity\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eThe Perilous Frontier\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eNomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThomas Barfield\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eHistory \/ Australia \u0026amp; New Zealand\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAround 800 BC, the Eurasian steppe underwent a profound cultural transformation that was to shape world history for the next 2,500 years: the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Asia invented cavalry which, with the use of the compound bow, gave them the means to terrorize first their neighbors and ultimately, under Chingis Khan and his descendants, the whole of Asia and Europe. Why and how they did so and to what effect are the themes of this history of the nomadic tribes of Inner Asia - the Mongols, Turks, Uighurs and others, collectively dubbed the Barbarians by the Chinese and the Europeans. \u003cp\u003eThis two-thousand year history of the nomadic tribes is drawn from a wide range of sources and told with unprecedented clarity and pace. The author shows that to describe the tribes as barbaric is seriously to underestimate their complexity and underlying social stability. He argues that their relationship with the Chinese was as much symbiotic as parasitic and that they understood their dependence on a strong and settled Chinese state. He makes sense of the apparently random rise and fall of these mysterious, obscure and fascinating nomad confederacies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cb\u003eThomas Barfield\u003c\/b\u003e has written numerous articles and reviews on Inner Asia and Afghanistan and is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e03 August 1992\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWiley\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWiley-Blackwell\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781557863249\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e348\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e19.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Wiley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44315257077900,"sku":"9781557863249","price":50.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9781557863249_9348ce4b-851d-4439-ab5e-eaafbcaf7b93.jpg?v=1780103701","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9781557863249","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}