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 the following, which for his time in history was unique: 1) allowing freedom of religion (Christians, Muslims and Buddhists all coexisted in the Mongol kingdom) instead of persecuting those not of the state religion as was the practice in most cultures 2) distributing looted wealth throughout his subjects instead of concentrating it among the elite 3) incorporating conquered people into his culture rather than enslaving them 4) appointing loyal and capable people rather than aristocrats 5) made adultery, kidnapping and selling of women into marriage illegal whereas they were all common practice in that time of history 6) instituted public education for the masses centuries before other cultures would do so
Chaucer and contemporaries celebrated Ghenghis Kahn but centuries later Voltaire and others created an historic narrative negatively portraying the Mongols. The Kahn’s while portrayed as barbarian were more civil by most measures than those they conquered from Europe to China and everywhere in between. (e.g. he would not allow the execution of criminals to take place in public settings like the Romans, England and most of the world)
Both Khans made use of advisors from many different backgrounds and cultures a la Lincoln’s team of rivals approach.
Khubilia, who established Beijing as the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, encouraged literacy and printing of materials centuries before the Gutenberg Press brought literacy and religious texts to the western world.
Weatherford (the author) covers a lot of ground providing detail as needed but not bogging down in the arcane.
The Kahn’s celebrated trade & enterprise as opposed to viewing it negatively as feudal societies did
They were pragmatic more than ideological
In many ways the Renaissance was less a rebirth of Roman and Greek culture but adaptation of Mongol advances and culture.
As one who rose from an underprivileged life including a period of enslavement, to the most powerful man in the world, Ghenghis Kahn was arguably the most successful and authentic pull yourself up by the boot straps individual of all time. If you like history and haven’t read about Ghenghis Kahn, this is a must read.