This is type of book that cannot be written today, due to modern single minded moral watchmen. Interestingly it is book that was published in 1980's at the time when both military-political blocks where prepping up for the end of days, and it seems that in those days these enemies were more respectful to each other and in general cooperative, than is case in our modern days of diversity and tolerance.

This is a very interesting and fantastic analysis of social interaction of two people, one sedentary and other nomadic, for period of about three hundred years. Period in which nomadic people, Mongol Golden Horde, through sheer terror and ruthlessness kept entire Asia and what is today European part of Russia and Ukraine (sedentary people) in political paralysis, always making them live on the edge of the knife and never knowing if Horde will decide to raze the land, cities and entire populations for any sign of resistance or disrespect to their rule, making sure they know that every open act of rebellion might be the last.

Thanks to the geographical location of Rus' lands, Golden Horde did not try to openly control it (as it did in Persia/Iran or China) because it was too much frontier land, but was collecting taxes and constantly engaging various nobility in internal conflict and war with external forces like Lithuania. In exchange, Rus' accepted the situation as is and decided to do something very interesting, something that one might find more when researching individual human behavior when put under unbearable pressure - they decided to negate Golden Horde dominance and just put them into same bucket with other steppe people that spread chaos in the area [but were definitely more short lived when compared to Golden Horde]. Since Golden Horde never took reins of control in Rus' land, this could be done with ease. Apparently, steppe warriors were common in those times that exerting blackmail of destruction and taxes on isolated cities was something that would not excite anyone. Basically Mongol's were collectively negated as a force that had any long lasting effect on the Rus'. For this to work people taking this approach need to be very patient and ready to accept hard times to reach their goal.

And to say this is something unique, it is not. Just note what happened to Nubian/Kushite empire - they were eradicated post-factum. Rus' did this real time for a sole reason that Golden Horde actually did not care what Rus' wrote in their records, as long as they got their money. In contrast, fall of Mongol's in eyes of Persians and Chinese and prestige of being associated with Golden Horde happened when Golden Horde ultimately disintegrated (which is more in line with Egyptian example) - here Mongol's actually controlled these areas and therefore after-the-fact expunge had to take place to keep local pride high.

Even being located on the borders of the huge Golden Horde empire, did not prevent Rus' to flourish in times between rebellions and uprisings and inter-city wars. Under the racket of Golden Horde, huge military force protecting the Silk Road and all means of trade between East and West [that brought huge wealth to the Horde], trade routes brought huge riches and prosperity (even to lower levels of Rus' society) and enabled contacts between the East and West of that most important nature - commercial. Author shows how Mongol's definitely had influence on Rus' society - from culture, social interactions, institutions kept after Mongol's demise - but in the end all of this was short-lived. Rus' managed to keep their own identity, take and apply what they found useful, especially when it comes to contacts with their Asian neighbors (diplomatic protocols, approaches to inter-state relations) but still imported the Western architecture and cultural riches to create a unique blend that will identify the Rus' land from the days of rise of Muscowy and Rurikid dynasty in general to Russian Empire, Soviet Union and modern day Russia.

Always on border between West and East, and as far as I can see always more appreciated by East than West (for whom this area was always "the-wild"), it seems these lands had to build thick hide to be able to survive. So it is not surprising they managed to survive Golden Horde and eventually establish themselves as a force in the region.

Very interesting book on social interactions and how nothing can exist out of context. Nothing exists in vacuum and, short of genocide (which is rarely absolute), different people of different persuasions living near each other, will find ways to co-exist, intermingle and cooperate in public (although privately they might vow never to side with the "enemy" workarounds were constantly applied - i.e. by having spouses change religions, satisfying the conditions of social taboos) and most importantly engage in commerce.

Excellent book, highly recommended. ( )

An easy read for a period of history with lots of names, dates, and battles, yet almost exceedingly so. The work is very short despite covering several centuries of history, and at times glosses over important concepts. A good intro for someone with no background on the Golden Horde's influence on medieval Russia, yet limited in further extended discussion.

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I grabbed this book from Quincy probably almost a decade ago. It was one of the texts of a Russian history class he was taking. It's been on my shelf since. I'm not sure why it suddenly looked appealing, but I started it. It's very dry. I'm sure the historical detail is fascinating to scholars in the field. Less so to me. Now that I've started something else, I'll probably never finish this. ( )

Idiosyncratic, but brilliant. There are few Russian historians with Halperin's command of the primary sources, but his interpretation of the relationship between the Golden Horde and the Grand Princes of Rus, including Muskovy, has been been subject of much examination and challenge by other specialists. The importance of this work in the field of early modern Russian history is comparable in its controversy to Edward Keenan's (Harvard). ( )