They ruled a realm wider than Rome at its zenith: 7 million km² from Korea to the Crimea, Siberia to the gates of Iran. Their horse-archers terrorised armies; their caravans stitched the Silk Road together. Yet the Göktürks-founders of the first empire to span the whole Eurasian steppe-remain a footnote outside specialist circles.

This book uncovers their story in a fast-paced narrative that fuses primary sources with the newest finds in archaeology, genetics and climatology. From the great migration of early Turkic farmers, through centuries of vassalage, to the lightning revolt of the Ashina clan in 552 CE, it traces how the Göktürks forged a pan-steppe super-state and coined the very name Türk.

Inside you will find:

• • A chronological account of the empire's meteoric century (542-630 CE) and its legacy for Byzantium, Persia and Tang China.
• • Translated excerpts of the Orkhon "runic" inscriptions-the earliest Turkic voice in stone-alongside Chinese, Persian, and Byzantine eyewitness reports
  
  
• • 50+ colour maps, reconstructions and portrait plates.
• • Glossaries, annotated index, and an up-to-date bibliography for scholars and enthusiasts alike.
  The Celestial Turks restores a missing chapter of world history-revealing how a people, guided by the sky-god Tengri and hardened by the steppe, built the blueprint that later empires from the Mongols to the Ottomans would follow.