
The History of Central Asia
The Age of Islam and the Mongols
Christoph Baumer(Author)
I.B. Tauris (Publisher)
Published on 30. May 2016
Book
Hardback
392 pages
978-1-78453-490-5 (ISBN)
Description
Between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, Central Asia was a major political, economic and cultural hub on the Eurasian continent. In the first half of the thirteenth century it was also the pre-eminent centre of power in the largest land-based empire the world has ever seen. This third volume of Christoph Baumer's extensively praised and lavishly illustrated new history of the region is above all a story of invasion, when tumultuous and often brutal conquest profoundly shaped the later history of the globe. The author explores the rise of Islam and the remarkable victories of the Arab armies which - inspired by their vital, austere and egalitarian desert faith - established important new dynasties like the Seljuks, Karakhanids and Ghaznavids. A golden age of artistic, literary and scientific innovation came to a sudden end when, between 1219 and 1260, Genghiz Khan and his successors overran the Chorasmian-Abbasid lands. Dr Baumer shows that the Mongol conquests, while shattering to their enemies, nevertheless resulted in much greater mercantile and cultural contact between Central Asia and Western Europe.
Reviews / Votes
A rarity - a labour of love, scholarship and high-class publishing ... an astounding achievement. * Literary Review * Many have written about Genghis Khan and his successors' national and international military campaigns. But seldom has the prose been so lucid and the illustrations so illuminating ... Under Baumer's expert guidance and firm hand, historians, religious scholars and the non-specialist can follow Genghis Khan's Islamic predecessors and the Mongols along the surface of the earth. * The Spectator *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
266 colour, 11 maps
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 295 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
2070 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78453-490-5 (9781784534905)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2016
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€100.99
Available for download

E-Book
05/2016
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€100.99
Available for download
Person
Christoph Baumer - a leading explorer and historian of Central Asia, Tibet and China - has written several well-received books in the fields of history, religion, archaeology and travel. These include The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity, Traces in the Desert: Journeys of Discovery across Central Asia and China's Holy Mountain: An Illustrated Journey into the Heart of Buddhism, all published by I.B.Tauris. His magisterial four-volume study of Central Asia began in 2012 with volume 1, The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors, and continued in 2014 with volume 2, The Age of the Silk Roads. The final volume will publish in 2018.