The Mongol Empire

by Craig G. Benjamin

Listening Length 11 hours and 34 minutes

The Mongol Empire was the largest empire the world has ever seen, forged by conquests across Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries. Yet despite the unparalleled brutality of the Mongols, they played a key role in launching civilization’s evolution into the modern world. In 24 half-hour lectures delivered by award-winning teacher and historian Craig Benjamin of Grand Valley State University, explore the paradox of the Mongols’ extreme barbarity combined with their enlightened religious attitudes and respect for high civilization, in The Mongol Empire.

Professor Benjamin recounts the life of the most notorious Mongol of all, Chinggis Khan (also spelled Genghis Khan). He details the careers of other Great Khans, including Qubilai, Ogedai, Batu, and Hulagu, plus the saga of the last of the celebrated Mongol conquerors, Timur, also known as Tamerlane. You learn about the prehistoric origins of the Mongol nomads, the secret of Mongol military prowess, the Mongols’ remote capital of Karakorum, and the many great cities and empires they sacked in a virtually unbroken string of victories stretching from Hungary to China.

Even today, the Mongol conquerors are almost as shrouded in mystery as they were for the victims of their sudden raids. Yet their empire was crucial to the fate of the religions of Islam and Orthodox Christianity and to the civilization of China. Plus, the long period of stability they brought to Central Asia opened the door to dependable commercial and cultural ties between Europe and East Asia.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Asia, Medieval History, Historical, Medieval

345 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 19, 2020

About the author

Craig G. Benjamin is Professor of History at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. He is the author of several books and numerous chapters and articles on ancient history.

Reviews

[Kaushal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read and a detailed account of Mongols’s impact on modern world but having read Jack Weatherford books and Kenneth Harl great course “Barbarians empires of the Steepe’” nothing new. Recommended reading for first timers, for detailed impact will definitely refer above works.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent series of lectures by Professor Craig Benjamin on the Mongol Empire, both brilliant militarily and utterly ruthless and destructive to its enemies, wiping out entire cities that did not surrender, including men, women, children and animals. Yet they also had greater religious toleration and excellent administrative skills. Like all empires, it cannot be summed up in one simplistic view. You’ll learn a wealth of things about Genghis Khan and his generals and sons, told enthusiastically.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of my readings about the Mongols have been around the edges, looking at them from the perspective of Europeans, Russians, Turks or Chinese, so I was interested to read a book that told their story with the Mongols themselves as the centerpiece. Of course, I knew of their famous military skills, the stories of their cruelty, and their sometimes surprising mildness and toleration as rulers. I knew of the Golden Horde, the Yuan Dynasty and the Moguls, and I'd heard the story about using human corpses infected with plague as catapult ammunition, but, truth be told, I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between Genghis Khan, Kublai Kahn and Tamerlane. Now I can. This detailed history covers all of the different configurations of empire from Genghis to the end. It's often hard to keep the names and factions straight, and it's mostly told as a one damned thing after another form of history, with less emphasis than I would have liked on personalities, culture and larger historical trends, so it comes off a little dry. But it's hard to appreciate the subtleties of history until you have the basic background down, and there is plenty of basic background here.

I did enjoy the discussion of some of the lasting impacts of the Mongols, particularly in describing their role as go-betweens who facilitated transmission of culture, knowledge and products between East and West and the stories of how their sale of slaves enabled the creation of the Mamalukes and how their favoring the Grand Prince of Muscovy over other Russian princelings enabled the consolidation of Russia under the Moscow-based tsars, so even if this isn't a great work of history, I learned plenty

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent survey course to introduce me to the Mongols. Although their period of activity coincides with my interest in European history in the Middle Ages, I found myself very unfamiliar with these Riders of the Steppes. This course has filled a great gap in my knowledge.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you interested in the history of Mongolian empire? I realized I don’t know much about the Mongolian empire and that lead me to look for a lecture series on Mongolian history that I can listen to since my schedule has been too busy for me to read a lengthy book on the subject at this time. This work was fascinating and informative.
There’s twenty four lectures with each about thirty minutes long. The introduction begins with a discussion about the Mongol’s place in world history then it has two lectures on Eurasia before the Mongols. Beginning with the fourth lecture we get into the rise of the most famous Mongolian of all, Chinggis Khan who is the subject of five lectures. Afterwards there are lectures of the descendants of Chinggis Khan who rule and also other leaders and era. There’s discussion about the military organization of the Mongols that I found very fascinating and also the Mongols in various geographical place such as in China, East Asia/South East Asia, Middle East and in Russia. The series also talked about the collapse of the Mongolian Empire and the rise of others such as Timur who claim to be part descendant of Chinggis Khan. I love the lectures covering Eurasia of even after the Mongolian empire.
This was very fascinating and interesting. Without a doubt my thirst to learn about the Mongolian empire has only increase as a result of listening to this series. There’s probably a lot for most listeners to try to absorb, I listened this over many weeks and certain portions I played it again and again; at the end of the day I’m learn best by reading so I will probably find books on the topic of the Mongol empire. Still these lectures gave me a great background.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mongol Empire was greatly overlooked in my western based education. When I was scrolling through what was included in my audible plus subscription, I saw the lecture called The Mongol Empire and decided to jump on it.

This lecture series turned book covers the Mongol Empire from just before Ghengis Khan created it, to the fall of the soviet union in the 1990s. It covers the series of leaders it had, and how each left their own mark on the world.

I was very interested to learn about how the Mongol Empire was a key factor in connecting the east and the west through trade and collaboration.

I also didn't realize that Khan is a title only used by those who are related directly to Ghengis Khan. So Kublai Khan, who Marco Polo spoke about, is directly related to Ghengis Khan.

The lecturer was really great. I felt that he was very knowledgeable about the topic, and presented it in a very easy to follow way.

I'd suggest this book/lecture for anyone, including other beginners like me

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on Audible. It was an interesting history, covering some of what I knew and some of which was new to me. It covers proto Mongol groups of the Donghu and Xionghu through to Tamerlane and the end of the Mongol empires. He talks about the historical events around the rise of Chinggis Khan and his descendants and the social history of the Mongols and how they organised their empire and how they were able to conquer so much territory. I think my favourite bit was the descriptions written by foreign contemporaries such as Marco Polo, including a Mongol who became a Christian monk writing about his views on the west. It's these first hand sources that brought the story to life. The author did become a bit bogged down in detail at times making it difficult to follow. But for the most part, this is a good history.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good summary of the mongol conquests but the best part of this lecture series is the after Genghis part. It is basically the Alexander succession wars but with the mongols instead of the Greeks. The first part was good but not new information for me but the second half was outstanding.

Worth a listen.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb historical survey!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summary of the Mongol Empire!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once in a while, the nurd in me, which in truth is about 90 percent, rears its ugly head in spite of my best efforts and I have a craving for a solid dose of non-fiction. When that happens I try to correct what I consider to be substantial deficits in my knowledge of history and or geography. I find it appalling how poor is the average American's knowledge of history and how meaningful history is to our ability to put our lives in some sort of meaningful context.

But, I digress, this review is about the course, not about my inadequacies or of my neighbor's. The course is extensive in scope and quite detailed. It is an excellent course for someone who wishes to dig deep into the topic and listen with notebook and pencil in hand to take notes, review them, create timelines, and create graphics that would allow her to join events that happened during the same time periods in diverse geographical areas. I on the other hand, wanted only to get a flavor of the topic and listened while on walks, at the gym, and while doing house chores. For the level of detail I wanted, and the fact that I would never be able to remember names that I could not spell, the course was a bit heavy at times. Hence, the 4 stars instead of 5.

In general, I think these courses would benefit from 3 hour "fast food" versions for listeners such as myself. These would be more Wikipedia and less encyclopedia.

[Prahalathan KK · Rating 4 out of 5]

> The Mongol Empire was the largest ever contiguous land empire in history
> There were a few great leaders, the most famous Ghengis Khan went from
> The Mongols were largely secular and united Chinese, Islamic, Central Asian cultures.
> The Mongol Empire's success could be attributed to several factors, including:
- Superior weaponry: The Mongols used a better bow which allowed them to shoot arrows from farther away.
- Skilled horse riders: The Mongols were highly skilled horse riders and covered greater distances faster than most contemporaries.
- Brutal reputation: Mongol armies would sometimes slaughter nearly everyone in a settlement and leave only a few alive.
- Great Administration: Despite being constantly at war they setup governance and taxation system that kept their empires going
> Legacy:
- The Mongols unified China as we know it today with Beijing as a capital
- the Mughals and many great dynasties were also descendants of Chenghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire
- A genetic study has revealed Chenghis khan may have the greatest number of descendants

[Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great Courses lives up to its reputation of quality with another great lecture series. If you want a comprehensive introduction to a subject (in this case The Mongol Empires), look no further. This covers the entire history of the Mongols and their cyclonic impact on the world as a whole, starting from the pre-Mongolic cultures of the central Asian steppes, all the way to decline and fall (some more sudden than others) of the various Mongol states leading into the modern area, including a touch upon the formation and nature of the modern nation of Mongolia. Everyone’s heard of the Mongols and Ghengis Khan, but there is a deep wealth of interesting information on the subject which this lecture series opens the door to for you.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. I have read a few books not he Mongols before and felt I walked away with more knowledge than this. I did listen to the Audible and did not have the pdf of lecture notes which may have helped as every time he said a name he seemed to emphasize it the way a native Mongolian or maybe Chinese etc. would say it which made it very difficult to understand. Also, is Genesis where all the begets-begets-begets are listed your favorite book of the Bible? IF so, you will adore large sections of this audible book where he simply lists names. The jumping around the time line way he broke up the Mongols did not work for me. Some sections he covered in blistering speed, others not as much.

[margaret ♡ the friends’ sister · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed learning about the mongols, an area of history i didn’t really know much about. this lecture series is information dense with so many names, places & dates that it can all get a bit blurred together. i thought it was pretty balanced in showing the mongols great achievements (i really admire their commitment to religious freedom) alongside their unimaginable brutality in times of war. it was also interesting to see how some of the history still has lingering geopolitical effects today.

audiobook ~ borrowed ~ hoopla

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a book, but I got a lecture series instead. Which is fine and it was interesting.

I've traveled to Mongolia and Inner Mongolia on the Chinese side of the border, which is not very far from where I live, and I've been to many places referred to during lectures.. I've read a few books on Chengis & Kublai Khan but still learned new information.

A worthwhile read iif you are into it.

[Dav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to the other Mongol history book I read, this one is quite good in having more details on the military campaigns of the Mongols. However, the author doesn't have as much subtle detail and intrigue into the specific key people unlike Secret history of the mongol women book.

[Stèf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Craig Benjamin is an energetic presenter. Not a Chinggis Khan apologist, nor incessant basher. I appreciate the Big History approach, this is a pragmatic and realistic history of the many people in their cultural, political, geographic, and historic context.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was great learning about the Mongol Empire and its impact on the modern world, but for me personally, I wish the book was shorter. Maybe I just needed an introduction course rather than something as in depth as this was.

[Nicolas Hoffmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent great course, one of the most fascinating, empires, and influential empires of all time.

[John Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed review of the rise ,many impacts, and fall of the Mongel Enpire. A bit over whelming but very insightful review.

[Andrew Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad that Great Courses are available to list on Goodreads! This course was so epic. Highly recommended!

[Balazs · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the point, erudite, balanced and instructive. One of the true "great courses".

[ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good overview starting from BCE to the fall of the USSR! however, focused mostly from Genghis to Timur

[MissDaniBoo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first lecture series that I had to listen on 0.9x whereas I’m usually at 1.2x on other audiobooks. He speaks so fast and jumps around in history in what feels like spaghetti logic. Did not finish and do not recommend. Such a shame too because the professor seems to have a ton of knowledge