[.ca] Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (ISBN 0609809644)

Enlightening to the Amateur Historian:
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World was exciting and enlightening read. Jack Weatherford's style of writing is easy and flowing making what could be a dry historical work into a tale that explain or debunks many of the myths surrounding the Mongol empire. Whet your appitite: -The Mongols had an aversion to physical contact with their dying enemies. -Both the Russians and Nazis used Mongol military tactics on the Russian front in WWII. -The Mongols connected the known world inadvertently spreading the bubonic plague. A few things to note: -Genghis Khan dies half way through the book. The remainder of the book discusses the man as defined by his legacy which is the influences he had on the future of government, religious tolerance, military tactics, commerce, science and exploration. -Khubilai Khan rightly takes up a fair number of pages. It is interesting how Khubilai Khan succeeded in conquering the Sung using politics where Genghis Khan had failed with military force. -I would have like to have seen a family tree starting with Temujin's (Genghis Khan as a boy) parents. The lineage is well covered in the book and I was easily able to draw out the tree myself. This was a very enjoyable and easy to read book that took many of the myths about the Mongols and either laid them to rest or explained them from the Mongol perspective. It turns out the 'Mongol horde' was actually a well organized society driven with the purpose of increasing trade in manufactured goods.

I have a new religion...:
I've always liked the idea of Genghis Khan; now that I know the facts, I like him even more. The work of the first Great Kahn is inspiring and Jack Weatherford does a phenomenal job describing, making it entertaining, yet without needing to dress it up at all. This book is a must read for anyone who likes to ask "Why?" A great deal of historical answers lie within this book.

Unknown in the West, Until Now.:
In the west we always hear of the Great Khan, as some sort of devil. Genghis Khan created the largest land empire that ever existed. Jack Weatherford explains how he rose to power, and why westerners consider him to be so evil.

REVISIONIST HISTORY AT IT'S BEST:
I liked this work. Like most, I must admit to have had a very narrow view of the Khans and the contribution the Mongol people. This book has certainly given me food for thought and has sparked an interest in a new subject (for me) which I will follow up on....always a nice thing, I think! The author's style is easy, his line of thought is logical. I would very much recommend this read for any history buff, and indeed recommend adding it to their library. Prof. Weatherford..if you read this, a suggestion - I think a nice book addressing and telling the tale of your research and the writing this book would be wonderul! So often the story of the making of a work is as interesting as the work itself. Just a thought. Anyway, a good work, read it, you won't be sorry.

How could an illiterate warlord shape the modern world?:
First off, the book's title is misleading and subject to debate. Readers should understand the desire that the author want to have its book stand out of many Genghis Khan bio literatures out there on the market. The conclusion is flawed and irresponsible. The man called TemÃ1/4jin rose on the steppe, hardened by his arduous journey of early life, with an original, sole aim to pay revenge to the people who have killed his fathers and are killing the mongols. But in fact he conquered the Jin and Karakorum with a deadly result of ruining the civilizations that at that time have achieved its peak of all time. If it were not for GK's massacre and ultimate destruction of so many cities and even some whole nations, those civilizations would very likely have continued to develop and have achived a much higher level than where they are today. In the chinese history, the Song dynasty, although led by silly, stupid, weak and shortsighted emporers and governments, did at that time produce many significant achievements in science, technology, literature and many other areas (e.g. invention of paper, printing, etc ) and had reached the highest level of domestic production and wealth that is uncomparable by any of the previous dynasties. China was taking the lead in science, tech, economics in the whole world at that time. However GK and his sons ruined the chinese civilization and China began to decline as of the conquer by mongol. The book didn't mention the massacre of chinese people by the mongols esp in Sichuan. The dead toll, which is said to be published in Guinness World Records, reached 500 millions. The chinese population dropped by half when the mongols conquered the whole China. Nazi and Japanese war crimes can't be compared to this. Simular things happened to the muslim world, where the highly developed civilization incurred barbarian destruction as well and suffered a rollback that took centuries to recover. I believe it Ogodei didn't die so early and the Mongols didn't return at the gate of Vienna, the western world could not have servived the mongol invasion and today the author of this book might never have the enthusiasm to write such a book with such a book title. In fact many westerns might feel very thankful to GK because he almost destroyed the mulim world with whom the western had been fighting with for a long long time. The GK and his son the western invasion might have some possitive impacts on the history but they are, in my opionion, by no means greater than the negative destrutive impacts on the world civilization in general. The illiterate mongols, without even a clear religion, what can you expect from them in terms of promption of wisdom and knowledge? They are by no surprise still living in the one of poorest countries in the world today. After revoking the frame of resistance for liberty in conquered countries and peoples, after the evolution of modern weaponary they could no longer sustain the roling of conquered lands. In fact without the employment of chinese siege warfare which they didn't even know of, they couldn't have broken into many of the cities on the way to the world power. GK is great man but he held back the paces of the developing world and he is more of a war crime than a hero.