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The Mongols: A History
“Of tremendous importance in world history ... imperatively necessary to all who would understand the development of Asia and of Eastern Europe" – Theodore Roosevelt
The Mongols were the superpower of their day, erupting out of Central Asia in 1206 to conquer an empire stretching from Poland to Korea.
Their arrival in the Middle East upset the very tenuous balance between Christendom and Islam, sparking a long-simmering rivalry that has lasted to this day.
This thorough history of the Mongols charts their rise from nomadic horsemen to continent-spanning empire to eventual dissolution.
At the time Curtin was writing, very little was known about the Mongols, even among well-educated men, and so this captivating book still serves as an excellent general introduction to the Mongolian world.
Curtin describes their homeland and early society as herdsman and raiders and, through folklore, introduces the first leaders, or Khans, including the rise of Temudjin, the great Genghis Khan, and his conquest of Central Asia.
This detailed narrative history continues after Temudjin's death, when the Mongol Empire was divided among his sons, who continued wars of conquest against the Chinese, Hungarians, Poles, and Japanese, and through to the dissolution of the empire following the death of Kublai Khan, the last man to possess centralized power among the Mongols.
Students and historians will find this an extensive and informative read about an often overlooked society that nevertheless greatly influenced the development of the modern world.
This edition includes an introduction by Theodore Roosevelt who praises Curtin for his superior scholarship.
‘an epic of such wonderful interest’ – The American Historical Review
Jeremiah Curtin (1835-1906) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduating from Harvard in 1863, he moved to Russia and worked as a translator, later publishing Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy (1884-1888) and Boleslaw Prus's The Pharaoh and the Priest (1902). The Mongols A History was first published in 1907.
The Mongols were the superpower of their day, erupting out of Central Asia in 1206 to conquer an empire stretching from Poland to Korea.
Their arrival in the Middle East upset the very tenuous balance between Christendom and Islam, sparking a long-simmering rivalry that has lasted to this day.
This thorough history of the Mongols charts their rise from nomadic horsemen to continent-spanning empire to eventual dissolution.
At the time Curtin was writing, very little was known about the Mongols, even among well-educated men, and so this captivating book still serves as an excellent general introduction to the Mongolian world.
Curtin describes their homeland and early society as herdsman and raiders and, through folklore, introduces the first leaders, or Khans, including the rise of Temudjin, the great Genghis Khan, and his conquest of Central Asia.
This detailed narrative history continues after Temudjin's death, when the Mongol Empire was divided among his sons, who continued wars of conquest against the Chinese, Hungarians, Poles, and Japanese, and through to the dissolution of the empire following the death of Kublai Khan, the last man to possess centralized power among the Mongols.
Students and historians will find this an extensive and informative read about an often overlooked society that nevertheless greatly influenced the development of the modern world.
This edition includes an introduction by Theodore Roosevelt who praises Curtin for his superior scholarship.
‘an epic of such wonderful interest’ – The American Historical Review
Jeremiah Curtin (1835-1906) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduating from Harvard in 1863, he moved to Russia and worked as a translator, later publishing Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy (1884-1888) and Boleslaw Prus's The Pharaoh and the Priest (1902). The Mongols A History was first published in 1907.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 1907
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 4, 2021
Not a recommended read. A book in need of serious editing.
September 23, 2021
Overview:
This book is a detailed account of the political affairs of the Mongol Empire and its immense impact on geopolitics and the shape of global power. Primarily covering the Mongol Empire wars with the empires of Persia, Islam, China, and its internal struggles and feuds. The reason and results of the slaughters that took place. The strategies that were used. The betrayals and acts of revenge. The tools used for war. Regions conquered by the Mongols had their trade stabilized as the Mongols provided protection and law. The empire had a semi-democratic republic, but not always recognized by blood kin of former Khans whom were their leaders. Originally nomadic tribes, whose identity is bound to tribal politics, but united they became a powerful force whose opponents underestimated them at their own peril.
Problems?
Terribly written without many learning outcomes. Although containing many details it is hard to put everything together. Neither Mongol society or the functioning of empire is part of this book. The focus is on the military and political aspects, but they were not written well either.
This book is a detailed account of the political affairs of the Mongol Empire and its immense impact on geopolitics and the shape of global power. Primarily covering the Mongol Empire wars with the empires of Persia, Islam, China, and its internal struggles and feuds. The reason and results of the slaughters that took place. The strategies that were used. The betrayals and acts of revenge. The tools used for war. Regions conquered by the Mongols had their trade stabilized as the Mongols provided protection and law. The empire had a semi-democratic republic, but not always recognized by blood kin of former Khans whom were their leaders. Originally nomadic tribes, whose identity is bound to tribal politics, but united they became a powerful force whose opponents underestimated them at their own peril.
Problems?
Terribly written without many learning outcomes. Although containing many details it is hard to put everything together. Neither Mongol society or the functioning of empire is part of this book. The focus is on the military and political aspects, but they were not written well either.
September 9, 2017
Everything you wanted to know about the Mongol Empire and more. Not only is this book a source of a massive amount of information about the Mongols from the rise of Jinghis and his uniting of the tribes to the splintering of the empire doe to internal conflict on who would be Khan, it is also a detailed history of events of the Arab world and China and Korea during the era. Learning that a "divine wind" saved Japan from being conquered and about the Mongol Princess who never married because no man could out wrestle her are just two of many tidbits woven together in this book. It's not a short read, so plan on some time to read it.
July 24, 2018
Reads more like a chronology of Mongol battles for succession than a history.
August 21, 2022
I read a lot of history and chose to read The Mongols: A History, influenced by Theodore Roosevelt's complementary foreword to the book.
The Mongols covers the period of Genghis Khan's immediate predecessors until the fall of the Mongol Empire and the ruse of China's Sung dynasty. Admittedly, I have very little knowledge of this part of the world or this segment of history, but I find that I am not much more informed after wading this this lengthy volume. Possibly the problem has to do with the names that change as individuals being profiled rise in the world; this is not exactly Princess Elizabeth becoming Queen Elizabeth II. And I could be confused by the hundreds of unfamiliar names. Possibly it has to do with place names almost never being identified, even initially with modern names, even if those modern names are 100 years old. More probably it has to do with the way the author has organized his material; it seems to me that he seems to follow the actions one one or two individuals, then rabbits off to another, then to another, and maybe a third before returning to his original subject. It almost seems that it is a book of lists: there are pages that are not much more than "X did this then died, Y did this then was killed, Z did this and was married."
I seldom had a sense of the sweep of history or the terror of the Mongol hordes, and I never saw the impact or the importance of the people and the events that changed the face of civilization in Asia and Europe.
The Mongols covers the period of Genghis Khan's immediate predecessors until the fall of the Mongol Empire and the ruse of China's Sung dynasty. Admittedly, I have very little knowledge of this part of the world or this segment of history, but I find that I am not much more informed after wading this this lengthy volume. Possibly the problem has to do with the names that change as individuals being profiled rise in the world; this is not exactly Princess Elizabeth becoming Queen Elizabeth II. And I could be confused by the hundreds of unfamiliar names. Possibly it has to do with place names almost never being identified, even initially with modern names, even if those modern names are 100 years old. More probably it has to do with the way the author has organized his material; it seems to me that he seems to follow the actions one one or two individuals, then rabbits off to another, then to another, and maybe a third before returning to his original subject. It almost seems that it is a book of lists: there are pages that are not much more than "X did this then died, Y did this then was killed, Z did this and was married."
I seldom had a sense of the sweep of history or the terror of the Mongol hordes, and I never saw the impact or the importance of the people and the events that changed the face of civilization in Asia and Europe.
May 10, 2017
An exceedingly thorough history of the Mongols' rise from nomadic horsemen to continent-spanning empire to dissolution through factionalism. Full of people, motivations and descriptions, but written in a very outmoded style (published originally in 1908) that makes parsing certain military actions (especially in the later chapters involving the invasion of China) rather difficult. Still, an excellent look at the people who conquered much of Eurasia, as well as the peoples they conquered.
February 23, 2020
Something so good.
Read
August 2, 2022boring
October 17, 2015
Best book about Genghis Khan.
The forward by Theodore Roosevelt is fascinating. I am not a history student, but the time appears to follow the 30 years war between Protestants and Catholics. Settled by the Peace of Westphalia where parties agreed to disagree. Instead of the 30 years war between Protestants and Catholics we seem to have an 800 year war between Shiites and Sunni's.
The first third covers history of Temujin. Half of the remaining book covers conquest of middle east, Persia, now Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, all the ....stans, the history of Islam, the society of the Assassins (Ismalis), Saladin, Nestorian Christians, Crusades. Fascinating. The book could really use some maps. Things haven't changed much in the Middle East.
The second half discusses the conquest of China, and the establishment and fate of the Yuan Dynasty under Kublia Khan.
Interesting to compare the Mongolian horse warriors with American Comanche Indians. Both used small Mongolian horses, children learned to ride at age 4 and 5.
The forward by Theodore Roosevelt is fascinating. I am not a history student, but the time appears to follow the 30 years war between Protestants and Catholics. Settled by the Peace of Westphalia where parties agreed to disagree. Instead of the 30 years war between Protestants and Catholics we seem to have an 800 year war between Shiites and Sunni's.
The first third covers history of Temujin. Half of the remaining book covers conquest of middle east, Persia, now Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, all the ....stans, the history of Islam, the society of the Assassins (Ismalis), Saladin, Nestorian Christians, Crusades. Fascinating. The book could really use some maps. Things haven't changed much in the Middle East.
The second half discusses the conquest of China, and the establishment and fate of the Yuan Dynasty under Kublia Khan.
Interesting to compare the Mongolian horse warriors with American Comanche Indians. Both used small Mongolian horses, children learned to ride at age 4 and 5.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews