John Aberth, The First Horseman: Disease in Human History (2007). A global study of the history of disease, with a fine chapter on the Black Death.

Thomas Allsen, Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia (2001). A history of cultural exchange within the Mongol realm, particularly between China and the Islamic world.

Thomas J. Barfield, The Nomadic Alternative (1993). An anthropological and historical survey of pastoral peoples on a global basis.

Carter Finley, The Turks in World History (2005). The evolution of Turkic-speaking people, from their nomadic origins to the twentieth century.

Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (2004). A lively, well-written, and balanced account of the world the Mongols made and the legacy they left for the future.

“Horseback Riding and Bronze Age Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QapUGZ0ObjA. An illustrated lecture on the origins of pastoralism by David W. Anthony, a prominent scholar.

“The Mongols in World History,” http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols. A wonderful resource on the Mongols generally, with a particular focus on their impact in China.