The Mongols: A History Paperback – September 1, 2017

Great history read---if you like this book you will also want to read the following 99-cent great history reads:1  Among the Mongols (1883) 2  The Law of Civilization and Decay: An Essay on History (1895) 3  Eutropius's Abridgment of Roman History 4  The True Story of Commodus and His "Reign of Blood" over the Roman Empire (1883) 5  The Story of Chaldea from the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria [Illustrated] (1891): Treated as a General Introduction to the Study of Ancient History 6  Assyria from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh (1897) 7  With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple (1901) 8  The Emir of Bokhara and His Country: Journeys and Studies in Bokhara (1911) 9  A Half Century Among the Siamese and the Lāo: an Autobiography (1912) (With Active Table of Contents) 10  The Emperor Nicholas II, as I Knew Him (1922)

The author seems to have developed this exhaustive history from annals ( probably Mongolian) supplemented with material from old Chinese histories. The place names and names of persons are totally alien to what we are evenly remotely familiar with. The chronology covers several centuries and is compressed, covering the highlights with many blood curdling episodes that seem beyond reprehensible in modern times. The Mongol strategies seem to have been "swarm and kill, take few prisoners." What I found most enlightening was the record of how the Mongols crushed the Sung Dynasty then ruled China as the Yuan Dynasty and were at length forced to withdraw back into Mongolia by the Ming Dynasty. This is a long and difficult read but we'll worth the effort for those who want a stunning overview of a legendary era ruled by Gengis, Kubali, and their successors.

A lot of detailed information. Needs minor editing of small words. Probably the problem we all have. He quotes extensively from a writer recognized as a good source. But that writer used King James English. Should have just paraphrased. Surely the Mongols did not say thee and thou.

It's just what I expected. It is a translation of the Mongol history as handed down in the royal family. Very good base for further reading on the rich history of the Asian Stepps.

A tiring read. Interesting to a point, but at times, hard to follow.Bar.

Another good free digital book for reading via Kindle on a tablet during the shutdown /quarantine due to covid 19.

This book has a foreword by none other than TEDDY ROOSEVELT (!) Although I admire our former President, this only means that the book is at least one century old, so the research leading to it is also at least one century old. I would suggest finding a more recent book, one that has a more modern approach (and research basis.) I actually didn't read the book at all, not a single page, as I was turned off by its age, so the one star rating merely indicates its ancient origin.

Very detailed history of the Mongols under Genghis Khan, tracing his rise, and the conquest of Persia, the Middle East, and China, and the fall of the Mongol Empire. Not much about the European invasion. That never amounted to much I guess or the sources he used didn't have much. This book was written at the turn of the century.Especially good was the description of the Middle East at the time of the Mongol conquest. The detailed accounts of how the Mongols won their victories and their use of terror is instructive.It was a bit too detailed in the chapters on China. I couldn't keep straight who was who, which Emperor he was talking about (Chinese or Mongol), and whether a particular general was a Chinese in the service of the Mongols or in the service of the Chinese.Anyway, a familiar story of the rise of a dynasty via the superhuman success of the founder to unify a great people, followed by foreign conquests, assimilation by the subject peoples, and dissolution by decay of the royal family and internecine strife. But, boy, what a story and what a ride.Aside from their DNA, the Mongols didn't leave much behind. They were just horseback barbarians, after all. They really weren't very nice people.

Very good

Great book and full of facts.

I was only able to get through 40% of this book. It may be suitable for a student whose sole aim was to obtain basic facts - but, to me, it was too boring to hold my interest. It was written in a manner describing the facts without any elaboration. I became confused when a multitude of historical figures and events were described on the same page. Unfamiliar and foreign subject names and place names caused my head to be in a whirl. Undoubtedly the book contained heaps of factual data but it was written in a manner so not to maintain my interest or attention.

I love history

I find history fascinating. This book is a good read while traveling on a train/plain. I can now see how George Martin was inspired by mongols when developing his dothraki culture