About the Author

Christopher I. Beckwith is Associate Professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University. He received a 1986 MacArthur Fellowship.

Reviews

"[The] author has succeeded in his task, thanks to his sound method of analysis and to his command of the languages of the relevant texts: Tibetan, Chinese, Arab, Turkic. Particularly the thorough and felicitous utilization of the Arab sources is one of the most pleasant features of the book."---Luciano Petech, Central Asiatic Journal

"A most impressive work by an excellent scholar."---Richard N. Frye, International Journal of Middle East Studies

"An absorbing and highly original narrative of imperial rivalries that is of particular interest to comparative historians."
*Choice*