Fun and easy to follow

It can't have been easy to make the history of such a wide area over such a long period of time coherent to a layperson. This course strikes a good balance between being too dry and too devoid of information. Perhaps the best thing I can say is that I feel like I know (and actually understand) more than I did before I listened.

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Fills in many gaps of ancient history

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This fills in so many gaps in the east-west dialogue of history which I have rarely heard about. I found it very important to understand the links between China, the Steppes, the Middle East and the West.

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Fascinating insight into a huge subject

As with many of the Great Courses this deals with a subject I hadn't realised I was interested in until I saw the title and took the plunge. Professor Harl covers an enormous subject both in temporal and geographical terms and makes it manageable by bringing a human element to the characters involved.

I have seen comments that a map is essential to understanding the subject and it would certainly help but it strikes me that is a limitation of audiobooks in general not specifically this course.

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Extremely comprehensive and very well detailed

The course gives a broad history of all the steppe nomads. As a result, it is perfect for people who would like to discover the subject for the first time, or if you wish to learn the general framework of the nomadic world before delving into a specific topic such as a the Mongols, Unns or Parthians with a dedicated follow-up (audio)book. If one keeps those parameters in mind, the course delivers perfectly on its promise, with an extremely knowledgeable lecturer who paints a great, and never boring, story. Some minor stuttering on his part made me give 4 stars out of 5 to the performance, but this does not subtract at all from the enjoyment of the course

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Great scope and passionate delivery

This is definitely the most interesting Great Courses series I have listened to so far. The scope is vast - 6000 years of history across the whole of Eurasia, starting with the origin of the Proto Indo Europeans and ending with the Mongol conquests. What capped it all was the knowledge and passion of the lecturer, who made every lecture enjoyable to listen to. Would definitely recommend to anyone.

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Absolutely amazing course - my favourite history one so far

This course has really been such an eye-opener to me. I really enjoy the uniqueness of this as much of history is narrated from the big western central or eastern empires. They never really show the view of the world the Eurasian Steppes. The narrator is very passionate and really explains how the Steppes have influenced empires and also the making of the modern world. It took me 2 to 3 lectures to get into it, but after that I was absolutely hooked and thoroughly enjoyed each lecture which enriched my mind and awareness of history substantially - well worth a listen!

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Enthralling

Probably my favourite Great Course History book so far.

A fantastic subject that for me tied together so many scraps of facts picked up from popular culture with a rich and compelling narrative.

Especially as so much of this history is still relevant in today's world, I really recommend this.

I found I had to Google a lot of places which really helped getting a sense of scale and location.

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Made a complicated history clearer

I felt his enthusiasm for the steppes was partisan.
Safe trade routes surely could have been established without the extreme violence visited on Europe and the Middle East.
They left nothing but misery in their wake to the people they conquered. As for the depopulating of captured areas and using the men as slaves in their armies..
Lastly what about the Black Death visited on Europe and the Middle East from the 1340s"?
None the less very worthwhile and would recommend.

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Absolutely amazing

I always had a great fascination with the Mongol empire and I have been looking for a comprehensive background on the world that they came from. This series was that and much more, as it went through the history of the step peoples even as far back as the Indo-European expansion in the late Neolithic, to the Mogul empire in India. The narration was good, with the lectures delivered with a lot of energy and story telling ability. Strongly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

Very informative

Where does The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best books I have listened to, it is great to listen to

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how he kept the chronology of the story, but was able to provide great detail about both the western and eastern steppe

What about Professor Kenneth W. Harl’s performance did you like?

I liked how he could bring the stories to life with small details about the main characters, and it seemed that he was also interested in the story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The book is very long, it would take a day to listen to it, but if I could I would have

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this as a fascinating listen and a part of history that is often overlooked

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1 person found this helpful