Barfield, T. J.2016-04-192016-04-1919930-13-624982-5http://hdl.handle.net/10919/66221Metadata only recordThe book offers an ethnographic and historical examination of several nomadic pastoral societies. Each chapter follows basic themes, allowing comparison across cultures and historical periods. These themes include: the ecology of nomadic pastoralism; comparative social organization of pastoral peoples; political relations between nomads and the outside world; the rise and fall of great steppe empires; and the future of nomads in the modern world. The book examines each cultural area using specific ethnographic cases to develop and support the theoretical issues raised. It makes a major distinction between developments that can be explained as a result of internal evolution, and those which are the result of adaptations made to the outside world. Five individual case studies of different nomadic groups are provided, including: cattle keeping in East African pastoralism; the camel nomadism of the desert Bedouins; shepherding amongst pastoral tribes of southwest Asia; the horse rider nomads of the Eurasian Steppe; and yak breeding in high altitude pastoralism in Tibet. (CAB Abstracts)text/plainen-USAfricaSocial changeNomadismEthnic groupsRural developmentPastoralismGovernanceAbstract