Mongolia: A Political History of the Land and its People

by Michael Dillon

Mongolia remains a beautiful barren land of spectacularly clothed horse-riders, nomadic romance and windswept landscape. But modern Mongolia is now caught between two China and Russia; and known to be home to enormous mineral resources they are keen to exploit. China is expanding economically into the region, buying up mining interests and strengthening its control over Inner Mongolia. Michael Dillon, one of the foremost experts on the region, seeks to tell the modern history of this fascinating country. He investigates its history of repression, the slaughter of the country’s Buddhists, its painful experiences under Soviet rule and dictatorship, and its history of corruption. But there is hope for its future, and it now has a functioning parliamentary democracy which is broadly representative of Mongolia’s ethnic mix. How long that can last is another question. Short, sharp and authoritative, Mongolia will become the standard text on the region as it becomes begins to shape world affairs.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2019

About the author

Michael Dillon is a China specialist with expertise in teaching the history, politics and society of the Chinese world and the Chinese language. He was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught courses on modern China in the Department of East Asian Studies. He has a BA and PhD in Chinese Studies from Leeds University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society. He is a peer reviewer for academic publishers and journals including China Quarterly, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Inner Asia and is guest editor for a forthcoming special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies focussing on Chinese ethnicity. He is a frequent commentator on Chinese and Asian affairs for the BBC and other international broadcasters, contributes to the Times Literary Supplement and was a consultant for China, a four-part television documentary directed by Jonathan Lewis for BBC2, Granada and PBS (USA).

He reads Chinese fluently, speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and some Cantonese and has a working knowledge of the Uyghur language of Xinjiang.

Reviews

[Toby Philpott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Introduction to Mongolia’s Political History but Already Dated

This is a very useful book to give a comprehensive background to the modern political history of Mongolia. I really wanted to give it five stars but it’s difficult to as the book is already a bit dated and politics is very dynamic in the country.

Firstly, it disregards some of the most recent developments related to the constitution and the undermining of judicial independence. It ignores the so-called “Constitutional Crisis of 2019” when the National Security Council took upon itself the right to start firing and replacing judges. This raised serious questions about President Battulga’s intentions regarding respecting liberal democratic norms and possible moves to autocracy.

There was a bit of a diplomatic crisis when Turkey flew a plane into the old Chinggis Khan Airport, kidnapped the head of the Turkish School and tried to illegally spirit him off on the plane.

The market described as being south of Sukhbaatar Square is no longer there.

There is now an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan and this has been in force since 2016. Negotiations for something similar with South Korea started in 2017/2018.

The EU now has a Delegation in Ulaanbaatar (opened November 2018) and an Ambassador, Traian Hristea (who lived in Ulaanbaatar in the 1980s I believe as his Father was a diplomat based there on behalf of Romania). The EU is working hard to strengthen trade ties with Mongolia and support the development of the economy in a more environmentally sustainable way.

Air pollution in Ulaanbaatar is a nightmare for everyone in the winter. It’s worst for the Ger district but there was often a brown cloud over the city in winter and it only got better last winter 2019/2020 due to the banning of raw coal and it’s replacement with (almost) smokeless fuel.

I hope that the author will revise the book at a certain point and bring it up to date. Especially as there is a new MPP government (some significant changes in personnel) etc. A discussion of some of the issues in contemporary Mongolian politics would be really valuable (electoral system, under representation of women and youth, disabilities, LGBT rights, etc.).

Still, thanks to the author for a very useful background to the political history of Mongolia.

[Jack Lindgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry, weirdly repetitive, and more "history as context for international affairs wonks", but also the only game in town (or one of the only). As advertised, it's very much a political and economic history (and in broad strokes at that), not much about the lives of ordinary Mongolians.
Good resource and a quick (but not engaging) read.

[Tsai Wei-chieh · Rating 4 out of 5]

四星全部給這個選題。內容其實還是太單薄了一點，作者本身也不具備相關的語文知識，深度沒法跟之前Charles Bawden那本《蒙古近代史》比。看到後面感覺像是烏蘭巴托旅遊介紹書。只不過英文跟中文出版界都沒有更新更好的通史性讀物了。裡面的內容也有一些問題，在之後的繁體中文版中我也做了更正。可以以這本書為基礎去繼續深入蒙古現當代史，但只停在這本上的話，了解恐怕還是太淺。對繁體中文版做了一點微小的工作。雖然書本身還有可以提升的地方，但考慮到華文世界沒有更好更新的蒙古國現代通史讀物，我想這書還是有點價值的。

[Erik Champenois · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's not a lot of books on modern Mongolian hisory. This is a decent introduction to Mongolia's history since is independence from Qing China in 1911 through the Soviet and post-1991 periods (till about 2017). Mongolia is today a nation harking back to its traditional roots and pride in a national identity that had been subsumed during Communism. The book interestingly briefly covers China's Inner Mongolia as well. Economic and geopolitical trends since the early 1990s are also covered briefly, with Mongolia today seeking to navigate between Russia, China, Asia, and the rest of the world. A good introduction to the topic for anyone wanting to understand Mongolia in the world today.

[Rob Hocking · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't exactly have me riveted in my seat, but it's a decent introduction to Mongolia and I learnt a few things.

[Radu Stefanescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book, I enjoyed it. It's relatively easy to go through it, you don't need to be a doctor in world history to understand what's being said.
It was my first reading about Mongolia and it managed to satisfy my curiosity.

[Zeitgeist · Rating 4 out of 5]

有生之年不知道能不能盼到台灣譯出Charles R. Bawden的The Modern History of Mongolia

[Anuradha Sarup · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare book for an overview on Mongolia.

[二六 侯 · Rating 3 out of 5]

陌生的「外蒙」史快速入門著作，但這鐵定是不夠完備的書，因為裡面女性完全是失語的。

蒙古國的第二性可說在這裡完全沒有聲音，好像她們在該國「重要」的歷史事件完全消失了一樣。