New Books in History The Far Edges of the Known World: A New History of the Ancient Past
Feb 17, 2026
Owen Rees, interdisciplinary ancient historian and author of The Far Edges of the Known World, explores life on the margins of empires. He surveys 6,000 years across three continents. Short chapters probe borderland trade, nomadic monument-building, hybrid identities, and how archaeology upends Greek and Roman-centered stories.
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Centered Sources Hide Borderland Lives
- Centered written sources force a Rome/Athens-centric narrative that hides other experiences.
- Rees deliberately abandons that singular lens and relies on archaeology and day-to-day evidence to reconstruct borderland lives.
How Sites Were Chosen
- Rees selected sites by asking where archaeology and cross-cultural interaction provided rich evidence.
- He chose 13 case studies he found most revealing, like Egypt, Olbia, Massalia, Koloa, and Aksum.
Literary Sources Must Be Corroborated
- Literary sources like Herodotus give context but reflect center perspectives and stereotypes.
- Archaeology often corroborates or complicates those accounts, revealing nomadic agency in trade and culture.
