William McNeill's 1964 study of the borderland between the settled agricultural world and the Eurasian steppe — examining how the struggle between nomadic and sedentary civilizations shaped Eastern European history from 1500 to 1800.
Documents the decisive role of the steppe frontier in shaping Eastern European state formation — the permanent military pressure from nomadic powers (Tatars, Ottomans) forced the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, and the Habsburg Empire to develop distinctive military and political institutions in response.
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