The Civilization of Perpetual Movement is the first examination of nomadism as a vital global political practice. Nick McDonell - bestselling novelist and war correspondent - draws upon his years spent with and research into nomads around the world to illuminate what is, and has always been, a most modern practice. In the lucid, evocative prose which earnt him comparisons with Graham Greene and John Le Carré in the New York Times, McDonell uncovers the ways nomads and states influence each other, historically and today - with surprising consequences, from the plains and mountains of Central Asia to the grasslands of the Great Rift Valley. Part literary meditation, part reflection on international relations, part original history, The Civilization of Perpetual Movement is firmly in the tradition of iconoclastic thinkers from Bruce Chatwin to James Scott to T. E. Lawrence.