Focuses on the rise of and the creation of a "New World System" that linked the Mediterranean to East Asia. Thematic Analysis
The volume ends not with the fall of the empire, but with its fragmentation in the 1260s (the Toluid Civil War between Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke). Christian argues that the Mongols ultimately fell victim to the "Outer Eurasian" gravity well. As the empire conquered China, Persia, and Russia, the grandchildren of Genghis Khan began to settle down—learning Persian, adopting Chinese court rituals, and converting to Buddhism or Islam. They were absorbed by the very civilizations they had conquered. The unified, mobile empire of the steppe could not survive its own success. Focuses on the rise of and the creation
The emergence of sophisticated nomadic states that rivaled Byzantium and Tang China. 4. The Mongol Peak As the empire conquered China, Persia, and Russia,
Christian moves beyond the "Stone Age" labels to discuss the Peopling of the Void. He details how early humans colonized the diverse ecologies of the region: The emergence of sophisticated nomadic states that rivaled
Some specialists point out that inevitably, a few "slips betray the touch of the nonspecialist" when dealing with such an immense chronological span (100,000 years). Project MUSE , such as those on the rise of the Mongol Empire or the early Rus' state
Examines the Turkic empires of the East and West, the Islamization of Central Asia (Mawara'n-nahr), and the origins of the Slavic "Rus" state.