Description

A Spectator Book of the Year

‘Sweeping . . . Poetic . . . Not only readable but also vital’ Literary Review

‘A terrific storyteller’ New York Times

‘Exceptional . . . tender and beautifully written’ Country Life

The groundbreaking story of Nomadic peoples on the move across history.

Tracing the epic paths of wanderers across twelve thousand years, acclaimed travel writer Anthony Sattin recovers the stories of tribes who lived beyond imperial borders and created their own kingdoms and empires: Scythian, Xiongnu, Persian, Hun, Arab, Mongul, Mughal, Ottoman and others. With their embrace of multiculturalism, respect for nature’s rhythms, and need for free movement, wandering peoples brought a glorious cultural flourishing to Eurasia, enabling the Renaissance and changing the human story. This sweeping narrative reconnects us with our deepest mythology, our unrecorded antiquity and our natural world. Nomads is the untold history of civilisation, told through its outsiders.

Publisher Review

In a book of sensitivity and grace, Sattin does not just describe the nomadic way of life, but also evokes it . . . This is a book of beauty and beguiling rhythm that offers unsettling lessons about our present-day world of borders -- The Times Thoughtful, lyrical yet ambitiously panoramic . . . As fleet and light-footed as its subject, it takes us along a dizzying path, over many of the highest ridges of human history . . . An important, generous and beautifully-written book -- William Dalrymple, author of 'The Anarchy' A terrific storyteller -- New York Times A fabulous piece of evocative writing, mixing personal stories with an epic sweep of history, the unique insight of location and an intimate connection to the subject. I loved it -- Jerry Brotton, author of 'A History of the World in Twelve Maps' Anthony Sattin's Nomads spreads before us a sweeping panorama of nomadism that resonates through the past and echoes poignantly even in the present -- Colin Thubron, author of 'Shadow of the Silk Road' I was riveted by the shifts to nomadic culture, Sapiens-like, and by the feeling of learning lightly worn and deftly transmitted. This is a major book -- Roland Philipps, author of 'A Spy Named Orphan' The saga of the lost mobile cultures and empires that have impacted global history . . . a spirited defence of freedom of conscience, freedom of movement and migration, a romantic tribute to independence and to free spirit, and to being in tune with the rhythms of nature -- Marc David Baer, author of 'The Ottomans' An incredible work combining brilliant scholarship with an epic, page-turning narrative . . . His landmark book -- Nicholas Crane Sweeping . . . Poetic . . . Sattin brings together a huge range of material with great elegance, making it not only readable but also vital -- Literary Review Exceptional . . . tender and beautifully written -- Jason Goodwin, Country Life Nomads is a kind of rhapsody on how this aspect of human nature has contributed as much, if not more, to civilization, than the tillers of the soil -- Asian Review of Books Nomads is a monumental work, exhaustively researched that sets out to explain nomadism, its importance, rise and decline over the centuries in the minutest detail -- Irish Examiner Not only readable but also vital -- Literary Review Triumphantly tells the story of another way of living . . . This is a book that does not labour in the fields but gallops full stretch towards the horizon -- Spectator A much-needed act of historical revisionism -- Times Literary Supplement