There has long been a need for a scholarly English edition of the great 13th century historical epic, The Secret History of the Mongols, the only surviving Mongol source about the empire. The book is mainly about the life and the career of Chinggis Khan, his ancestors and his rise to power. Chinggis Khan was not only a military genius, but also a great statesman and diplomat. Through a combination of armed force and diplomacy, he managed to merge the complex system of alliances which existed between diverse tribes into a powerful confederacy that swept across most of Eurasia, starting in 1219.

In the grim fifteenth century, the whole of primitive Southern Russia was laid waste and burned to the ground by the Mongols. Robbed of house and home, men grew daring. A warlike flame fired the Slavonic spirit and begot Cossackdom.

 

There sprang up formidable settlements bound together by common danger and common hatred of Mongols. The Cossacks settled on the ashes of their homes, amid formidable foes. They grew used to looking peril straight in the face and forget there was such a thing as fear in the world.

Empire of the Mongols (Great Empires of the Past)

Under the leadership of Chinggis Khan and his descendants in the 13th century, the Mongols quickly built an empire that stretched from Korea to eastern Europe - the largest continuous area of land ever controlled by one ruling family. The rise of the Mongols marked the last major clash between nomadic and sedentary cultures. They united Eurasia in a truly international trading system, encouraged new forms of communication, and demonstrated the value of religious tolerance at a time when religious differences often led to wars.

128 pages - PDF - 9Mb

Great Empires of the Past series

Empire of the Mongols details how the Mongols were able to sweep so swiftly and effectively across the plains and establish a great empire, and why it was ultimately an empire they could not control.