Warriors of the Steppes

by Harold Lamb

About the Author

  Harold Lamb (1892-1962) was born in Alpine, New Jersey, the son of Eliza Rollison and Frederick Lamb, an artist and writer. Lamb later described himself as having been born with damaged eyes, ears, and speech, adding that by adulthood these problems had mostly righted themselves. He was never very comfortable in crowds or cities, and found school “a torment.” He had two main refuges when growing up—his grandfather's library and the outdoors. Lamb loved tennis and played the game well into his later years.

  Lamb attended Columbia, where he first dug into the histories of Eastern civilizations, ever after his lifelong fascination. He served briefly in World War I as an infantryman, but saw no action. In 1917 he married Ruth Barbour, and by all accounts their marriage was a long and happy one. They had two children, Frederick and Cary. Arthur Sullivan Hoffman, the chief editor of Adventure magazine, recognized Lamb's storytelling skills and encouraged him to write about the subjects he most loved. For the next twenty years or so, historical fiction set in the remote East flowed from Lamb's pen and he quickly became one of Adventure's most popular writers. Lamb did not stop with fiction, however, and soon began to draft biographies and screenplays. By the time the pulp magazine market dried up, Lamb was an established and recognized historian, and for the rest of his life he produced respected biographies and histories, earning numerous awards, including one from the Persian government for his two-volume history of the Crusades.

  Lamb knew many languages: by his own account, French, Latin, ancient Persian, some Arabic, a smattering of Turkish, and a bit of Manchu-Tartar and medieval Ukranian. He traveled throughout Asia, visiting most of the places he wrote about, and during World War II he was on covert assignment overseas for the U.S. government. He is remembered today both for his scholarly histories and for his swashbuckling tales of daring Cossacks and Crusaders. “Life is good, after all,” Lamb once wrote, “when a man can go where he wants to, and write about what he likes best.”

  Source Acknowledgments

  The stories within this volume were originally published in Adventure magazine: “The Lion Cub,” June i, 1920; “The Skull of Shirzad Mir,” November i, 1919; “Said Afzel's Elephant,” December i, 1919; “Prophecy of the Blind,” February i, 1920; “Rose Face,” March i, 1920; “Ameer of the Sea,” April 15, 1920; “Law of Fire,” July 15, 1920; “The Bride of Jagannath,” August i, 1920; “The Masterpiece of Death,” September 15, 1920; “The Curved Sword,” November 3, 1920.

  Table of Contents

  Contents

  Foreword

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction

  The Lion Cub

  III

  VI

  The Skull of Shirzad Mir

  Said Afzel's Elephant

  III

  Prophecy of the Blind

  Rose Face

  Ameer of the Sea

  III

  IV

  VI

  VII

  Law of Fire

  Save in the wind . . .

  The Bride of Jagannath

  “Honor to Jagannath!” screamed the voice of Bhimal

  The Masterpiece of Death

  “Peace!” ejaculated the servant of the ameer. “Mak

  The Curved Sword

  IV

  Geron gave a grunting cry and sank to the earth, c

  “Leave us,” he said harshly to the onlookers.

  Appendix

  About the Author

  Source Acknowledgments