《敦煌莫高窟北区出土蒙古文文献研究》旨在研究考证敦煌莫高窟北区新近出土的蒙古文文献。在各章节展开之前，有必要就文献出土情况、基本内容、研究史以及此次研究的目的、方法等问题作些说明，且是为导论。
依据石窟在崖面的分布情况，人们通常把敦煌莫高窟石窟群划分为南、北两区。以原敦煌文物研究所编号的第1窟为界，此窟及其以南为南区，第1窟以北为北区。北区石窟因多无壁画或塑像，长期以来受人冷落。

This comprehensive history of the northern frontier of China through the first millennium B.C. details the formation of two increasingly distinct cultural areas: the sedentary Chinese and the northern nomads. Nicola Di Cosmo explores the tensions existing between these two worlds as they became progressively more polarized, with the eventual creation of the nomadic Hsiung-nu empire in the north, and of the Chinese empire in the south. Di Cosmo investigates the origins of the antagonism between early China and its "barbarian" neighbors.
Table of contents
Introduction
Part I:
1. The Steppe Highway: the rise of Pastoral Nomadism as a Eurasian phenomenon;
2. Bronze, Iron and Gold: the evolution of nomadic cultures on the Northern frontier of China
Part II:
3. Beasts and birds: the historical context of early Chinese perceptions of northern peoples;
4. Walls and horses: the beginning of historical contacts between horse-riding Nomads and Chinese states
Part III:
5. Those who draw the bow: the rise of the Hsiung-nu Nomadic Empire and the political unification of the Nomads;
6. >From peace to war: China's shift from appeasement to military engagement
Part IV.
7. In search of grass and water: ethnography and history of the North in the Historian's Records;
8. Taming the North: the rationalization of the nomads in Ssu-ma Ch'ien's historical thought;
Conclusion.

全稿以书为篇，凡十有三篇，约字30万字，其中五代后晋一人，元人王恽、张德辉、周伯琦三人，而以宋人胡峤、路振、王曾、许亢宗、王寂等五人为最多。明以前有关东北边疆地区之主要游记，大抵均囊括于此。贾子以其一已的比较完整地学术休系和独到的风格，一一为之热电厂比较勘，爬梳钩稽，间附已意 ，每篇以本书原文为纲，有原注者次之，已之注释又次之。注释或云“颜案”或否，均另起行，序次井然，尤便读者，释文短者数字，长者数百或过千字，无则从阙，不著一字，不强以不知为知，知必引史为证，以伸已说，亦有引而不发，以俟来哲。