Not a book I would normally grab off the shelf for myself. In fact, this was recommended to me as a gift to my husband, who never reads anything other than Jeremy Clarkson. Well, he didn't read this so I lifted it off him and gave it a go.

Who would have thought I would have been so absolutely captivated by a tale of Ghengis Khan? In fact, I didn't even realise that this book was about that until half way through and all the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

The characters come alive. The plot is tense. The setting is exquisitely painted. Everything is well paced.

Although the accuracy of specific historic details can never be proven given the lack of available sources, I felt that the times were well researched and represented fairly. I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone. You might surprise yourself.