Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

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.