Steppe and Its Empires

The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts

von Michael Khodarkovsky

224 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

A broad comparative study that highlights the importance of the Eurasian steppe and its impact on the arc of Russian history Throughout its existence, Russia has been a hybrid empire shaped by both Europe and Asia. Focusing on the formation of the Russian state between the sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries, renowned historian Michael Khodarkovsky examines Russia's structural similarities with its neighbors in Asia-the Ottoman, Persian, Mughal, and Chinese empires. While most historians have noted the transformations that brought Russia closer to modern European societies, the Russian empire's shared characteristics with its non-European counterparts remain poorly understood. Khodarkovsky reveals the critical role of the Eurasian steppe in the formation of the empires, whose military-social institutions and political culture were distinctly different from those of the West. Ultimately, he argues that Russia is best understood as a hybrid Eurasian empire whose steppe origins and fluid frontiers propelled its relentless expansion, producing a vastly diverse society with a blurred sense of national identity.

• Themen: Geschichte und Archäologie Geschichte Europäische Geschichte
• ISBN: 9780300284386
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 14.07.2026
• Größe: 235 x 163 mm
• Verlag: Yale University Press