The work of the outstanding domestic historian, geographer, and philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev is dedicated to the ethnological study of the oecumene of Eurasia over 1500 years — from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD. The choice of the topic was prompted by the desire to survey the history of the oecumene and the ethnogenesis of the ancient peoples of the Great Steppe during an era when ethnic processes began and ended, after which a renewal occurred — a new, yet unfinished cycle of ethnogenesis. This work investigates both the history of the Great Steppe and the neighboring countries, where during the described time and before, super-ethnoses flared up and died down, restrained not only by the power of their rivals but also by the peculiarities of geographical borders. The history of the Huns and the Gunners, the ancient Turks and Uighurs, the Oghuz and the Kimaks turned out to be rich. Neighboring regions: China, the Middle East, Byzantium, and Europe serve as a frame, enclosing the picture — the Turkic-Mongolian steppe. The monograph is an attempt to synthesize history, ethnology, and geography. It was created at the intersection of the humanities and natural sciences. Ethnological methodology allows not only to fill in the gaps in the history of one country and its neighbors separately but, moreover, to achieve an understanding of the ethnic history of all of Eurasia as a whole.
The author of the preface to Lev N. Gumilev's book "Millennium Around the Caspian" is O.G. Novikova, PhD, Senior Researcher at the State Hermitage. The book is provided with a bibliography, an index of historical figures, an index of researchers and quoted authors, a geographical names index, and an ethnonym index.
The book is addressed to historians, geographers, philosophers, ethnologists, and a wide range of interested readers.
