Nomads, Anthony Sattin
Nomads, Anthony Sattin
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Nomads
The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

Author: Anthony Sattin

Narrator: Anthony Sattin

Unabridged: 11 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/20/2022


Synopsis

The remarkable story of how nomads have fostered and refreshed civilization throughout our history.

Moving across millennia, Nomads explores the transformative and often bloody relationship between settled and mobile societies. The story of the shifting, umbilical connections between these two very different ways of living presents a radical new view of human civilization. From the Neolithic revolution to the twenty-first century via some of the lesser-known Eurasian steppe cultures, the great nomad empires of the Persians, Arabs, Mongols, and Mughals, as well as the mobile native North American peoples, nomads have been a perpetual counterbalance to the power of the settled and their cities.

Exploring evolutionary biology and the psychology of restlessness that makes us human, Anthony Sattin's sweeping history charts the power of nomadism from before the Bible to its decline in the present day. Connecting us to mythology and the records of antiquity, Nomads explains why we leave home, and why we like to return again. This is the groundbreaking history of civilization as told through its outsiders.

About Anthony Sattin

Anthony Sattin is the author of several acclaimed books of history and travel, including The Gates of Africa and Lifting the Veil. He lives in London, England.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andreas on July 23, 2022

History is mostly about settled people, and when it’s about nomads it’s usually about them from the perspective of settled people who typically describe them as barbarians or savages. The reason is simple: nomads don’t have writing systems. Anthony Sattin in Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our Worl......more

Goodreads review by Korey on September 26, 2022

Nomads took us from nomadic hunter/gatherers to present day van-lifers. While I enjoyed the premise of the book, the historical parts were less historical and more mythical - with a lot of references to the bible. To be fair, the author does preface the book with the fact that nomadic humans didn't......more

Goodreads review by Tom on July 10, 2024

I took this in as the audiobook edition well-narrated by the author and published in 2022 by HighBridge Audio. I was drawn in to learn more of the mysterious nomad empires such as the Scythians, Hittites, Mongols, and more. This delivers on that and in doing so suggests much of what we assume about......more

Goodreads review by Laurie on November 19, 2023

My favorite type of synthesis of learning from a variety of disciplines to tell a story. In this case, the story of peoples who remained on the move when others settled and why an understanding of their contribution to human history is important. An excellent bibliography for readers who wish to del......more

Goodreads review by ConfusedMagpie on March 23, 2025

This was such a beautifully written book and a delight to read. The author truly captures the feeling of adventure and searching for the unknown that his book attempts (successfully) to be. I found it dissapointing that a book about nomadism was only focused on central asia and europe when there are......more