Synopses & Reviews
Mongol leader Genghis Khan was by far the greatest conqueror the world has ever known. His empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe, including all of China, the Middle East, and Russia. So how did an illiterate nomad rise to such colossal power and subdue most of the known world, eclipsing Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon? Credited by some with paving the way for the Renaissance, condemned by others for being the most heinous murderer in history, who was Genghis Khan?
His actual name was Temujin, and the story of his success is that of the Mongol people: a loose collection of fractious tribes who tended livestock, considered bathing taboo, and possessed an unparalleled genius for horseback warfare. United under Genghis, a strategist of astonishing cunning and versatility, they could dominate any sedentary society they chose.
Combining fast-paced accounts of battles with rich cultural background and the latest scholarship, Frank McLynn brings vividly to life the strange world of the Mongols, describes Temujin's rise from boyhood outcast to becoming Genghis Khan, and provides the most accurate and absorbing account yet of one of the most powerful men ever to have lived.
Review
Booklist, July 2015and#147;This ambitious and massive effort offers some credible insights into the qualities of Genghis while providing an excellent chronicle of his military campaigns and conquests. Particularly interesting is McLynnand#8217;s description of thirteenth-century Mongolia, with its incredibly complicated web of tribes, clans, and subclansand#133;This is an informative and admirable effort that is ideal for general readers.and#8221;
Kirkus Reviews starred review, 5/15/15
and#147;A sanguinary and thorough account of and#145;the greatest conqueror the world has ever known.and#8217; McLynn knows the terrain and the times so well that he writes about 12th- and 13th-century history and culture as if it were yesterday. Throughout this intricately detailed text, the author pauses continually to explain relevant devices, personalities, political situations, and geographyand#151;all of this gives readers a chance to truly understandand#133;McLynn recognizes that the historical sources must be constantly questioned and analyzed, as victors tend to inflate their victories and losers, to minimize and blameand#133;Thoroughly researched, grim, grisly, and sometimes even grudgingly admiring.and#8221;
Publishers Weekly, 5/18/15
and#147;Sweepingly ambitious and persistently intriguing.and#8221;
The Spectator (UK), 6/27/15
and#147;[Khanand#8217;s] was an extraordinary, epic story and Frank McLynn does it full justice in a vivid, page-turning biography.and#8221;
Sunday Times (UK), 6/21/15
and#147;A formidable study of the worldand#8217;s greatest conqueror. With this compelling history of a brilliant, complex leader and ruthless master of warfare, McLynn has done his man proud.and#8221;
Sunday Times (UK), and#147;Must Reads,and#8221; 6/28/15
and#147;A formidable study of the ruthless Mongolian nomad who carved out an empire.and#8221;
The Times (UK), 6/27/15
and#147;McLynn has carefully synthesized the work of hundreds of scholars to create a sensitive and immensely detailed portrait of an extraordinary leader.and#8221;
Shelf Awareness for Readers, 7/31/15
and#147;A staggeringly ambitious biography of history's greatest conquerorand#133;Genghis Khan is fascinating enough to appeal to any history fan.and#8221;
Macleanand#8217;s, 7/24/15
and#147;McLynnand#8217;s bio of the legendary, brutal conqueror reveals the Mongoland#8217;s mantras.and#8221;
My Big Honkin Blog, 7/29/15
and#147;The hundred pages of endnotes clearly illustrates the efforts that McLynn put forth in penning Genghis Khan.and#8221;
Examiner.com, 8/3/15
and#147;Brings us face to face with this complex man who shaped the course of history.and#8221;
InfoDad blog, 8/6/15
and#147;Such a man requires the most substantial possible biography, and McLynn gives him one that resoundingly demonstrates how intricately fascinating history can beand#133;Sumptuous, erudite and stylish, careful to rely on often-contradictory primary sources when any such exist from so remote an era, McLynnand#8217;s Genghis Khan is a sweeping 650-page trek through times and peoples whose very names sound like the stuff of legendand#133;A book thatand#133;makes history come alive.and#8221;
Synopsis
A definitive and sweeping account of the life and times of the world's greatest conqueror--Genghis Khan--and the rise of the Mongol empire in the 13th century
Combining fast-paced accounts of battles with rich cultural background and the latest scholarship, Frank McLynn brings vividly to life the strange world of the Mongols and Genghis Khan's rise from boyhood outcast to world conqueror. McLynn provides the most accurate and absorbing account yet of one of the most powerful men ever to have ever lived.
Synopsis
From an acclaimed historian, a new and definitive biography of the great conqueror Genghis Khan
Synopsis
Mongol leader Genghis Khan was a mighty warrior, more powerful even than Alexander the Great or Napoleon. He successfully waged war on two fronts simultaneously while also conquering Russia in winter. So how did an illiterate nomad from a nation of just 2 million people conquer and subdue most of the known worldand#151;from the Adriatic to the Pacific, the Arctic Ocean to the Persian Gulf? Were the Mongols simply a horde of thugs, guilty of the greatest massacres in history until the twentieth century? Or, were they actually the architects of the first globalization, spurring on the Age of Discovery and the Renaissance? In a fast-paced panorama of warfare from China to Poland, Frank McLynn answers these and other questions, illuminating the genius of Genghis Khan.
About the Author
Frank McLynn is a highly regarded historian and the author of more than twenty critically acclaimed biographies, including
Marcus Aurelius and
Richard and John. A graduate of Wadham College, Oxford, and London University, where he obtained his doctorate, he lives and writes in England.