A review by cactussambal
The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes by Kenneth W. Harl

5.0

Kenneth Harl makes every subject he teachers come alive. I thoroughly enjoyed his talks on the Vikings. That led me to listen to The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes. This was such a blind spot for me. I was somewhat familiar with European and East Asian history, but it is arguably the people of the steppes who influenced the Eurasian continent the most. Harl answered so many questions: Who were the Alans? The Huns? The Turkic tribes? The Mongols? The Mughals? The Tocharians? The Hittites? The Indo-Europeans? What were each of their relationships with the major empires of the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Chinese, India, The Fertile Crescent, etc.? Fascinating topic and great delivery by Professor Harl.