World Conquest in Medieval Eurasian Literature and Art

“World Conquest in Medieval Eurasian Literature and Art” examines the origins, uses and effects of ideas about global domination in medieval Eurasia. It focuses on the depiction of figures including Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in French, Latin, Persian and Mongolian texts, and in images produced across Eurasia. This book project shows the deep roots of ideas about global domination that persist to the present, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese and U.S. foreign policy, and multinational corporate strategies and capital discourses. This book will illustrate how and why world conquest was normalized in premodernity on a global scale.