Genghis Khan

by Jacob Abbott

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Classics, Historical, Medieval, China

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1860

About the author

Abbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City.

He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.

His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine

His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.

Reviews

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the most amazing guys ever roamed earth. a must read

[Aravind · Rating 3 out of 5]

This simply narrated history of Genghis Khan traces the life of the great conqueror, from being the son of a minor chieftain in Mongolia to becoming the ruler of arguably the largest empire in history. The language is archaic, as it was published in the late nineteenth century. The names of persons and places have been spelled differently, which makes looking up of these names a bit difficult. The book doesn't cover the details of his conquests beyond the modern day Afghanistan. In short, this book is an appetizer that has to be followed up by some sumptuous material on the Khan of the Khans...

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable.

[Farhana Faruq · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first audiobook - wanted a subject I'd enjoy. This was pretty awesome. It's a non-fiction about the life of Genghis Khan. Starting from his father to Genghis's death.

It's a very old version with lots of detail, I have no problem with either. The only issue I had is the authors opinion of few things - for example, what he thought was "barbaric" or wrong, etc.

I listened to this in conjunction with reading a Historical Fiction about Genghis Khan (Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden). It was nice to see how much was or wasn't that different.

[Sicofonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1888, this book happens to be quite outdated. Jacob Abbott wrote the series "Makers Of History" aiming at children as its primary audience. Hence, it's also very simplistic the way it was written (although this is not necessarily a bad thing).

If you want to read an accurate biography of Genghis Khan go elsewhere. I'd even dare to say that the The History And The Life Of Chinggis Khan: The Secret History Of The Mongols is more accurate than this.

However, the book is very entertaining. And the electronic edition that I found on Project Gutenberg is exquisitely done. Just for that it deserves 3 stars.

[Elaine Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical fiction

[Ahmed El Batran · Rating 3 out of 5]

“At last he became completely discouraged, and, after signal defeat which he met with from a detachment which had been sent against him by Genghis Khan, he went, with the few troops that remained together, to a strong fortress among the mountains, and told the governor that it seemed to him useless to continue the struggle any longer, and that he had come to shut himself up in the fortress, and abandon the contest in despair.

The governor, however, told him that it was not right for a prince, the descendant of ancestors so illustrious as his, and the inheritor of so resplendent a crown, to yield to discouragement and despondency on account of the reverses of [Pg 299]fortune. He advised him again to take the field, and to raise a new army, and continue the contest to the end.

Jalaloddin determined to follow this advice, and, after a brief period of repose at the castle, he again took the field.”

On Jalaloddin, Uncle of Qutoz

[LeAnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a narrative history of Genghis Khan, this was a good gateway. However the book hasn’t aged well: the spellings of names & places are really archaic & hard to find in modern sources and it is clearly a product of its age when it comes to discussing how people outside of the “civilized” 19th century West live. Additionally, the book concludes rather quickly once the author decides he’s ready to wrap it up. I had fun reading it aloud with my kids but I drew in more modern perspectives as well as real historical artifacts to help them approach it with more critical thinking & context.

[Perla K. Cariño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information about Genghis Khan, his army, his society, and the empires and leaders he fought against. Sometimes, it was a bit confusing with the large amount of leaders. It was very interesting to see that he cared deeply for his son, despite allowing and encouraging absolute brutalities on innocents from other nations.

[Hristina Ivanova-Petrova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book. A bit outdated(understandably) and far too detailed for my liking, but all in all an interesting read.
I would resort to more modern sources for reliable info, though.

[Aziz Hayri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basit ve yüzeysel bir biyografi. Yazarının taa 1800 lerde bu ve benzeri kitapları yazdığı düşünülünce hayret etmemek elde değil. Sıkılmadan okunabilecek bir kitap. Bu arada bu eserin yayınlanma tarihi 1860 yılı.

[Iami Menotu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written, no detail, no structure, no analysis.

[Amar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my first book on Genghis Khan.
Informative sometimes.

[Anukriti Gulati · Rating 2 out of 5]

A basic outline of Genghis Khan's life. Hardly any details talking about strategies, or emotions. Bit judgey at times.

okay for a quick read.

[Ulaş Baltacı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hanların hanı

[Scott Forray · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re looking to learn the basics of Genghis Khan then this book is for you. A fairly good and quick read.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of names and places to keep straight. I had thought at the time of his death that there was a big mass suicide out of respect or something but it wasn't mentioned.

[Moiz Sultan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One must read this book to understand the quantum of forces commanded be Genghis Khan. Though his reign was full of brutality the end especially, but still a good read.

[Suraj Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I was a child, I had a fascination to the name Ghengis Khan, it was my father who always kept me fascinated in Ghengis Khan. The fact that a barbarian from a pastural land was able to conquer almost entire Europe till India is pretty unthinkable, indeed Temujin as his real name is, has lived an illustrious life, a brutal yet illustrious life. At the time of his death, at the age of 64, he had probably the most powerful kingdom under his rule, which only broke off after his death, as it happens with all kingdoms, with brother fighting brother and killing each other. But before that, we get a glimpse into his life, and his values. He was a King who established democracy in his kingdom! Yes, democracy, of course they elected him as the supreme leader, but he had a actual constitution according to which he ruled, it wasn't on the whims of a dictator. Women were treated equals, there were strict laws and they were enforced in brutal ways. For instance if a public servant had an allegation of corruption and if it was proven by their elders, the official was put to death. His name itself caused so much terror in the minds of the countries he invaded, that most of them just gave him the keys to their kingdoms hoping that he won't kill them all, and he just plundered them, it was a sign of benevolence that he did not kill them all. In that way, he killed an awfully large number of people, but then again, it is what a king does, if he wanted to be taken seriously as a king by other than his own people, then he had to be brutal and not tolerant of insubordination. What is surprising that the nomad was religiously neutral, surprising because despite the fact that we, now, in the 21'st century, still aren't religiously neutral

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very interesting book that has some fun facts and horrible facts. Since Genghis Khan was very talented in winning battles and killing people. Though another thing that stuck out to me is how clever and innovative Khan was when it came to war. For example, some secret messages were sent by shaving someone's head and tattooing a message on the person's head. Since when someone is looking for a message they don't expect it to be on someone's head, especially after the hair grows back to cover the tattoo.

[Rakesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read on Genghis Khan and his exploits

History is generally a boring read, but this one didn't feel as dry. There were some parts where I believe the author could have refrained from repeating himself. The end particularly saw an awful lot of repetition. Not too had overall though.

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downloaded for free and read on Kindle. Genghis Khan is a fascinating, historic character. Jacob Abbot wrote at an elementary school level. I consider this book to be a placeholder until something better comes along.

[Ram Kishor Poddar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was written way back in 1880s and is pretty plain,simplistic and elementary . It is narrated in "bare facts and observation" mode and is quite informative. Read it to get a historian's point of view on the life and events in Temujin aka Genghis Khan.

[Ann Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but old fashioned writing

Though the content of this book was of great interest to me, I found the old fashioned prose clumsy and tedious at times. I will be interested to do some follow up reading on the topic to see what else I might learn.

[Barbara Harman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry history of conquests

[Neil Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable, almost rip-roaring survey of the great Khan's life. The 19th C style is hilarious.

[Abraham Brownfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring!

[Loni · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite quick history reads. Another must in the study of war and leadership as well as a piece of the entire asian continents history.

[Jaydeep Banerjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Labourious narrative. A historical thriller, interesting but not entertaining.