No animal is so entangled in human history as the horse. The thread starts in prehistory, with a small, shy animal, hunted for food. Over time, the domestication of horses, followed by the advent of riding, powered mighty empires: Persian, Mongol, Mughal. For more than two millennia, from Iran and Afghanistan to China, India and, later, Russia, the deep and ancient bond between humans and their horses connected a vast continent, forged trade routes, linked cultures and fueled war machines.

Scholar of Asian history David Chaffetz tells the story of the steppe raiders, rulers and traders who amassed power and wealth on horseback from the Bronze Age through the twentieth century. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources-in Persian, Turkish, Russian and Chinese-Chaffetz presents a ground-breaking new view of what has been known as the "Silk Road", and a lively history of the great horse empires that shaped civilisation.