... beencalled a small peninsula of Asia, and no clear geographical boundary de-marcates it from the rest of the Eurasian land mass. The Ural Mountainsnever were a barrier; for centuries, hordes of ... the Laboratory of Car-tography at the University of Paris–Sorbonne must also be thanked for the maps. The support of Professor Jean-Pierre Bardet, director of the Roland Mousnier Center at the ... Patrick O’Brien—and also twoanonymous commentators. As for the parts of the book that venture intomedieval history, my daughter-in-law, Professor Elisabeth Crouzet-Pavan,has been an invaluable...