Barbarians at the Wall

A fast-paced and fascinating chronicle of nomadic life in ancient Asia Author John Man Publisher Bantam Press Price £20 Released Out now

Barbarians At The Wall begins with the sighting in 204 BC of a comet, a portent heralding the emergence of a new dawn for China. The teenage King of Qin state, Zheng, interpreted its appearance as a sign of great change to come, and so it was when he waged war against China’s other remaining states and emerged as its first Emperor. Zheng – who is best known today for the Terracotta Army – founded a powerful empire but its rise coincided with that of another. The Xiongnu, nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes, were to be a thorn in the side of China’s rulers for 400 years, and they are worthy subjects of this engrossing blend of narrative storytelling and archaeological analysis. Through raids across the Great Wall which was built to bar them, to the receiving

of sumptuous gifts in Chinese attempts at mollification, the Xiongnu amassed a wealth that enabled them to imprint their culture on swathes of land in Central Asia, creating a heritage which has been linked to Attila’s ‘Huns’ and Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire.

The book’s erudite and evocative pages examine themes such as the currency of legends in nation-building and how far it is possible to reconstruct the minutiae of an ancient people’s existence. A cast of intriguing characters coupled with fascinating archaeological discoveries and Man’s amiable style makes for an enjoyable read that does justice to the significant impact of the Xiongnu on Chinese and Asian history.