Tamerlane was the last of the "world conquerors". His armies marauded from the shores of the Mediterranean to the frontier of China. Nomad horsemen from the steppes had been the terror of Europe and Asia for centuries, but with Tamerlane's death in 1405 an epoch of history came to an end. After Tamerlane takes a sweeping new look at our global past. John Darwin's account shows that the ascent of the West was neither foreordained nor a linear process. Indeed, it is likely to be a transitory phase, as we witness the great resurgence of Asia, the central feature of our modern "globalized" world. If we are to make sense of our future, we need also to make sense of our Eurasian past. - Jacket.