July 23 The growth of tribal societies into something bigger. Military technology, finance, religion, language, crusades

This work is a comprehensive tale of the empires of the Middle East before, during and after the advent of the Mongols. It deals largely with the Mongols who reached the Middle East, with little other than background about groups to the east and north except as the interacted with those invading Anatolia, Syria and surrounding areas. This is history told mainly in terms of battles lost and won, changes in dynasties and borders, diplomacy and civil wars. It contains little about the mode of life of the Mongols other than that they were nomads, their beliefs other than that they believed they were fated to conquer the world. Of their long-term effect on history we learn mainly that they made Europeans aware of how large and rich Eurasia was, created the conditions for Turkish rule and contributed to the downfall of the Crusader states in Palestine.