This volume explores the dynamics of expansion and contraction of major continental empires in Eurasia. It is the first comparative study that systematically addresses the factors - ideological, ecological, military, economical, and other - that shaped the empires' space. 'A captivating collection of essays about empires of the past and the factors that determined their territorial extent. Alongside a few familiar examples, such as Rome and the Mongols, are many little-studied empires in the Islamic world, Russia, and China. Consistently compelling reading.' Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the Globe-and Globalization Began