How Long to Read The Steppe and the Sea

How Long Does it Take to Read The Steppe and the Sea?

It takes the average reader 4 hours to read The Steppe and the Sea by Thomas T. Allsen

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

In 1221, in what we now call Turkmenistan, a captive held by Mongol soldiers confessed that she had swallowed her pearls in order to safeguard them. She was immediately executed and eviscerated. On finding several pearls, Chinggis Qan (Genghis Khan) ordered that they cut open every slain person on the battlefield. Pearls, valued for aesthetic, economic, religious, and political reasons, were the ultimate luxury good of the Middle Ages, and the Chingissid imperium, the largest contiguous land empire in history, was their unmatched collector, promoter, and conveyor. Thomas T. Allsen examines the importance of pearls, as luxury good and political investment, in the Mongolian empire—from its origin in 1206, through its unprecedented expansion, to its division and decline in 1370—in order to track the varied cultural and commercial interactions between the northern steppes and the southern seas. Focusing first on the acquisition, display, redistribution, and political significance of pearls, Allsen shows how the very act of forming such a vast nomadic empire required the massive accumulation, management, and movement of prestige goods, and how this process brought into being new regimes of consumption on a continental scale. He argues that overland and seaborne trade flourished simultaneously, forming a dynamic exchange system that moved commodities from east to west and north to south, including an enormous quantity of pearls. Tracking the circulation of pearls across time, he highlights the importance of different modes of exchange—booty-taking, tributary relations, market mechanisms, and reciprocal gift-giving. He also sheds light on the ways in which Mongols' marketing strategies made use of not only myth and folklore but also maritime communications networks created by Indian-Buddhist and Muslim merchants skilled in cross-cultural commerce. In Allsen's analysis, pearls illuminate Mongolian exceptionalism in steppe history, the interconnections between overland and seaborne trade, recurrent patterns in the employment of luxury goods in the political cultures of empires, and the consequences of such goods for local and regional economies.

How long is The Steppe and the Sea?

The Steppe and the Sea by Thomas T. Allsen is 240 pages long, and a total of 60,000 words.

This makes it 81% the length of the average book. It also has 73% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read The Steppe and the Sea Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 5 hours and 27 minutes to read The Steppe and the Sea aloud.

What Reading Level is The Steppe and the Sea?

The Steppe and the Sea is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy The Steppe and the Sea?

The Steppe and the Sea by Thomas T. Allsen is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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