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Jan 20, 2012

Sandybanks rated it:

Genghis Khan and his Mongol Horde were good news for the world. Really. Not convinced? Consider the following:

1. Genghis Khan was an advocate of human rights, specifically freedom of religion, freedom from torture and free trade (he got two of the Four Freedoms right, which is pretty impressive by medieval standards, especially when they still, like, burned heretics and unbelievers in Europe and elsewhere). GK forbade the use of torture in trials and as punishment. He also granted re More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Lara rated it:

This might be my favorite book of all time. It's as fascinating as a history book or biography can get while also being a terrific read. From the first page, you are immersed in understanding how an illiterate steppe warrior became ruler of an empire larger than Africa. Perhaps most enticing to me are the ways in which the survival strategies of steppe nomads influenced the ethics of rulership and the cunning development of military tactics. I recommend this book to anyone with a sense of curios More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2011

Indra rated it:

To the Young Mongols:
Never forget the Mongolian scholars
who were willing to sacrifice their lives to preserve your history.

Энэ ном надад их таалагдсан. Монголчуудын ахуй амьдралыг сайн дүрсэлсэн, үйл явдлуудыг олон талаас тайлбарласан, ер нь бодит байдалтай их л дөхөм юм шиг санагдав. Бас бидний олж хардаггүй зүйлсийг өөр өнцөгөөс харж бичсэн байсан. Бүх хүмүүст уншихыг зөвлөж байна. Уйтгартай түүхийн ном шиг санагдахгүй гэдгийг амлая (эхний 2 хэсэгт таны мэддэг юм гарах More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 27, 2007

Jamie rated it:

This is a pretty radical book, and like most revisionist history it goes a little bit overboard with it's thesis: Genghis Khan wasn't a bloodthirsty barbarian, he was the greatest civilizing influence the world has ever seen, bringing peace of rule of law wherever he went!

In addition to the amazing personal details presented about Genghis Khan and his early life as an outcast from one of the most obscure fringe nomadic tribes of Mongolia to, well, King of the World, the book does mak More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Victoria Evangelina rated it:

~THE JUST WRATH OF GODS~

Listening to this fascinating audio book in the gym and when walking the dog... Temurlen (as he's known here) had a tough childhood; his warrior life started with his refusal to let go of his beloved wife Borta who was kidnapped by a huge and strong tribe... And he, a 19-year old boy who grew up as an outcast, hunting for rats, went on gathering support to bring her (and also his mother and other women of the family) back, for he felt that his chest was cut op More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2012

Johnny rated it:

One of the finest biographies I've ever read. Considering the subject matter (an ancient culture that kept few records, which the Chinese tried their best to wipe out), it's mind-boggling the level of research needed to produce such a book. Further, if only half the information contained within was accurate, it would still be one of the greatest attempts to shed light on the practically forgotten works of history's mightiest conqueror: Genghis Khan.

Like most biographers, Weatherford More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 03, 2008

Ben rated it:

A very interesting examination of the life of Genghis Khan and the empire he created. The book starts with Genghis's early life, his uniting the Mongol tribes and his military successes. What was most interesting was that Genghis Khan's ideas, both for his tactics, his military organization, and the administration of his empire, seem to come out of nowhere. His ideas were so innovative that they appear incredible.

The book continues through the reign of his grandchildren, and the More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2007

Sam rated it:

We all have the stereotype of Genghis Kahn being a bloodthirsty murderer and killing millions of people and then piling their heads up into giant piles. BUT - this isn't the case. Yes it's true that he was responsible for killing a lot of people, but his empire was one of the first to have free religion, free trade, diplomatic immunity, accountability for all people (kings had the same accountability as a peasant), and without the boundaries of religion, science could prosper - unlike Europe whe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Robert rated it:

The history, analytically speaking, is more than a little suspect in places, but if thought of more as the gee whiz variety of pop history, there's lots of fascinating material here. I probably wouldn't find this nearly so interesting if I weren't living in Mongolia, but I am, and that's part of the beauty of travel--it gives you an excuse to explore parts of the immense whole of information that you'd probably never otherwise notice.

The primary argument, which I do find compelling, i More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Jenny rated it:

I read this after returning from a trip to Siberia (Lake Baikal area), where I had spent some time learning about the mixing of Shamanism and Lamaism (Buddhism). One of my fellow travelers was reading this book and so I decided to read it upon my return.

It is a biography of Ghengis Khan from pre-birth to post-death. Most people think of him as a tyrant through-and-through, but in spite of his brutality that he was quite rightly known for (i.e. total destruction of sieged cities, includ More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Clint rated it:

This is a wonderful book for those that don't know the many good things about the expansion of the Mongols. Focus is given on religious tolerance among the Mongols (There were many openly Christian Mongols in the horde.), and the fact that the Mongols' "Rules of War" were surprisingly compatible to our modern, civilized rules - including protection of diplomats, declarations of neutrality, and protection of innocent individuals who could be used in rebuilding. Weatherford even describe More...

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Dec 22, 2011

Kimberly rated it:

This is the third book in a trilogy that all Western schoolchildren should read to put worl history in proper perspective. The first is 1491 by Charles Martin about the "real" Americas before Columbus, the second is Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary about the history of the world from the Islamic perspective, and this is the third.

The Mongolian Empire gets a bad rap in the West and all because of a political accident that occurred in 1755. Voltaire was writing a play to s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Marcus rated it:

Mr. Weatherford's work is a very suitable choice if you wish an introduction to Mongol empire and its history that goes beyond the generics. Its title is a little misguiding - only first part of the book is specifically about Genghis Khan and even that part of the book covers much more than just the man himself. Second part of the book deals with Mongol empire after Genghis Khan's death, while rather lengthy epilogue analyses legacy of Mongol Empire and how it was viewed, all the way to our days More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Jan rated it:

With the completion of this book, I finally polished off the first page of my reading list! Of course, that reading list has about 7 more pages after it, but I'm thrilled nonetheless. It's been a long time coming.

Truly, what a fantastic book to finish it with. You think you know all you need to know about Genghis Khan? Well, you think wrong. In fact, if you're anything like me, everything you thought you knew is incorrect. I don't know if I've ever been more impressed by a historical More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Nilesh added it

This is one of the few books that completely shake the notions one has learnt over a lifetime from school onwards. The author comprehensively proves how Genghis Khan has been unfairly reviled by history while his actual status should be almost exactly the opposite as a medieval hero who changed the course of history for good.

The book's downside is perhaps the first part where seemingly trivial local battles are described in great detail to introduce the true Genghis Khan. Relatively, far less s More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Zachary added it

A very interesting book that covers the Mongol Empire in much the same way most histories of nation states are written--treating the emergence of the state and political unification of the nation as a supreme good while largely glossing over the coercion required by the political leaders in order to achieve unification and downplaying war-time atrocities against foreigners.

The book is also interesting in that it carries its history forward to around the death of Khublai and includes substantive More...

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Jun 04, 2011

Sherwood added it

This is an immensely readable take on Genghis Khan, his successors, and the changes they caused in world history, but objective, it is not.

Weatherford is in love with Genghis Khan and his culture; while he doesn't flinch at reporting the details of the slaughter involved in conquering nearly all of the land mass that makes up Asia and Europe, he editorializes with trenchant sarcasm about the medieval kings' versions of savagery:

. . .King Louis IX was busy rounding up a More...

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May 11, 2011

Iamthird rated it:

In twenty-five years, the Mongol army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in four hundred years. The scale and scope of Genghis Khan's accomplishments challenge the limits of imagination and tax the resources of scholarly explanation. He smashed the feudal system of aristocratic privilege and birth, he built a new and unique system based on individual merit, loyalty, and achievement. GK insisted on laws holding rulers as equally accountable as the lowest herder. Histor More...

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May 05, 2011

Drew rated it:

Terrific. My education with western biases failed me by not exposing me to Ghenghis Kahn earlier. Genghis Khan, his grandson Khubilai, and the Mongol empire they presided over have been misunderstood and undervalued. Their impact and leadership are both stunning. Whether measured by land mass, population or countries conquered Genghis Khan conquered twice as much as any other person to ever walk the earth. He (and in some cases his grandson Khubilai) did so through cleverly implementing th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 23, 2011

Caroline rated it:

This book is as good an example as any of the oxymoronic nature of that old phrase, 'historical fact'. There is of course no such thing. History is written by people, by cultures, by civilisations, and as such is subject to a huge array of prejudices, biases, grudges and agendas. Western history tells us almost nothing about Genghis Khan, short of casting him in the role of the stereotypical Eastern barbarian. Western history lauds the achievements of conquerors such as Alexander the Great or Ju More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

Paul rated it:

Really interesting stuff...the first 1/3 is about Genghis Khan, the next 1/3 his children and grandchildren and the continued expansion (and fragmentation) of his empire, and the final bit about his influence on the world as the first secular state.

One of the things that struck us back in 2003 when we spent 6 weeks in Kazakhstan was how much Genghis Khan was respected there...having grown up hearing about the Mongol hoards, it was surprising to find that people proudly knew which ho More...

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Mar 02, 2011

Benedict rated it:

I had thought that Genghis Khan was another one of those mad conquerors that we had read about in history, like Tamerlane, Attila the Hun or Hitler.

However, his story is more interesting than that. He definitely was a brute. For instance, to help win a battle he would round up villagers who were "trapped" outside the central city walls and force them into the surrounding moat and then trample them with heavy war machines and his own troops on horseback.

He crea More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2011

Owen rated it:

This book lionizes our dear Genghis a touch, whitewashing some aspects of his history- perhaps he was more religiously tolerant than most in his day... but the provenance of his genetic strand in modern times speaks to a pattern of rape the scope of which has probably never been seen before or since. It is a completely new take on the Mongols in general and Khan in particular, an easy read and full of information you probably didn't know. Also, in my line of work, Genghis has a few things to t More...

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Dec 18, 2010

Cameling rated it:

The legacy of Genghis Khan is often riddled with fearsome myths around the man's cruelty and blood lust. The research that the author has undertaken shows us, as much as he is able, given the scanty written record of his earlier life and certainly little of his thoughts. What he does deliver is a blunt assessment of a man who, having been cast out with his mother and brothers from the clan after his father is killed, goes on to kill his elder half-brother, is imprisoned as a slave by another kha More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 01, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

In the same vein as 1421 and 1434, this book educated the reader on what the Mongolian culture had to contribute to the world. And based on this book, it's a lot.

I purchased the book from the Tech Museum in San Jose after we took our son to the Genghis Khan exhibit. It was awesome (too bad, it's gone now). This book changed what I thought I knew about Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire that extended until the early 20th century.

I gave 5 stars from sheer enjoyment of l More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 25, 2010

Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it:

History is not simple.
It is a mistake we learn in our schools when we are taught history through memorizing dates in a linear fashion. History is alive, it is complex and there are always small events leading up to a big episode. Professor Weatherford's book builds a fascinating story around the many achievements of Genghis Kahn, as well as his military genius and leadership skills.

Even though I have heard the name Genghis Kahn before, I've never done much reading on him or t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 26, 2009

Steven rated it:

This is a well written, nicely flowing work. The author, Jack Weatherford, traces the life and time of Genghis Khan, born as Temujin, and his descendants. He notes the impact of the plague on the Mongols and how that plague spread, to some extent by the Mongols. And he makes the claim that the Mongols had an appreciable impact on the West's Renaissance.

Weatherford begins by noting the purpose of his book (Page xxxv): "The focus remains on the mission of our work: to understand More...

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Apr 25, 2009

Nathan rated it:

A well-researched biography of Genghis Khan that in a relatively quick and compelling narrative tells the tale of the greatest rags to riches story in history (I say that without a bit of hyperbole.)
Weatherford makes a strong case for Khan's role in shaping the modern world, ranging from establishing the silk routes, bringing together disparate technologies to improve living standards and his war machine, and pioneering diplomatic communications including the white flag of truce.
Weat More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 21, 2010

Ben rated it:

A non-fiction book that reads almost like an entertaining novel, yet also provides a unique and detailed perspective into the Mongolian civilization and culture founded by Genghis Khan. One of the best non-fiction books I've read.

The most intriguing part of the book may be the author's effective countering of the stereotyped notions of the reign of Mongolian empire as one driven solely by bloodlust and lack of any moral code. The easiest example would be the religious tolerance of More...

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Oct 05, 2011

Carol rated it:

Fascinating history of the Mongol nation from the 1200's to the 14oo's. Starting with Genghis Khan who comes into greatness by forming alliances. A brilliant, tactical warrior. He thinks outside the box, embraces foreign invention. He creates a society where all religions are accepted and value is places on one's abilities not one's position. He removes from power the royal families and appoints people with skills. He sets up trade routes with stations every 20-30 miles with food and horses. He More...

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