RAIDERS, RULERS, AND TRADERS

Sub-titled 'The Horse and the Rise of Empires', this special book explores how horses shaped civilisation through warfare, trade and culture from prehistoric times to colonialism, drawing on genetics and archaeological findings. No animal is so entangled in human history as the hors; the thread starts in prehistory with a slight, shy animal, hunted for food. Domesticating the horse allowed early humans to settle in the vast Eurasian steppe, and later their horses enabled new forms of warfare, encouraged long-distance trade routes, and ended up acquiring deep cultural and religious significance. From milking to marauding, this is a compelling scholarly history which shows the strength of horses who have added their own modest physical abilities to help humans change everything from agriculture and transportation to sports and warfare. Over time, horses came to power mighty empires in Iran, Afghanistan, China, India and later Russia. Genghis Khan and the 13th century Mongols offer the most famous example, but from ancient Assyria and Persia to the 17th century Mughals, to the high noon of colonialisation in the early 20th century, horse breeding was indispensable to conquest and statecraft. The history begins with their domestication for milk when the entanglement begins 40,000-2,000 BCE. Horse herders entered the settled world 2,000-500 BCE and horses became the engines of empire in Iran and India 500BCE-400CE. It looks at the Silk Road, China and the Turks, hunting, Timur and his descendants 1370-1747, China and Russia 1584-1800, the Great Game, British India and Russia 1739-1881, and we march, trot, gallop and charge through to the last horsepowers, 1890-1919. With timeline and glossaries, 424pp, maps and illus. Remainder mark.