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Genghis Khan or the Emperor of All Men

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I found an old paperback edition of this 1927 book in a used book store and just found out that a new edition has very recently been published. Genghis Khan Emperor of All Men is a very readable fact-filled history of the great conqueror's life. Genghis Khan was born with the name Temujin in 1162. He was later given the title Genghis Khan, which means the Emperor of All Men. He came surprisingly close to living up to this grandiose title. Harold Lamb did a very good job of packing his book with information and writing it in an entertaining and informal style that does not compromise the educational value. There is an ample bibliography giving all of his sources. The modern reader may find the style a little dated; I had to look up several words and expressions that are now seldom used, but this is a very minor fault. Actually, it can also be considered a virtue. For it's a sad but true fact that much writing we now call "old fashioned" (this also applies to writing from England; I'm not even sure of Lamb's nationality) is distinguished from modern writing in that it contains a greater variety of words than we are used to. Genghis Khan achieved his notoriety by uniting many different nomadic tribes that had previously been at war with each other. Together they came to be known as the Mongols (prior to this there was one smaller tribe that had been called this). These new Mongols were sometimes erroneously called Tatars, which were a distinct tribe of their own. The history of the Mongols is exciting and frightening to explore. They were perhaps the most ferocious, ruthless and relentless group of "barbarians" the world has known. Under the brilliant and utterly ruthless generalship of Genghis Khan (and later his descendants), the Mongols conquered all of Asia and came close to dominating Europe as well. They won battles not only by their courage and ferocity but by utilizing extremely sophisticated military techniques and sometimes plain trickery (e.g. they would pretend to retreat then catch the enemy off guard). They were, of course, expert horsemen and archers. They completely destroyed two ancient empires, the Chinese and Persian. The Mongols, probably more so than the Christian crusaders, prevented Islam from becoming the dominant force in the world. Lamb presents Genghis Khan as a very practical ruler. He cared little for politics or religion, and used these only as tools. For example, he expressed a belief in one God, but allowed Christians, Buddhists and Moslems alike (along with the older shamanistic nomads) to worship as they pleased, as long as they submitted to his rule. The Mongol empire endured for many centuries. After the death of Genghis Khan, his sons continued to expand its borders. His grandson Kubilai Khan was made famous in the West by Marco Polo. The Mongols played a large, probably underestimated role in world history. On the one hand, it is impossible not to admire their courage, determination and perseverance. When they decided to invade a place, even a vast empire like China, they simply kept attacking until they achieved victory, no matter what the cost. On the other hand, the Mongols are known for a savageness and brutality that is hard to match. On more than one occasion, they killed every single inhabitant of a city and burned everything to the ground. They are one group whom the term "barbarian" is probably not undeserved. Historically, like Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire, the Mongols were instrumental in opening up and connecting different regions of the world. They created a vast system of communication across Asia. All in all, this is a fascinating introduction to the life of Genghis Khan and the legacy of the Mongols.

WOW! This book brings to life the achievements of a man who had his heart set to conquer! The next time you're driving on a highway on your daily commute to work, look forward into the distance and try to picture how it would've been for an entire army to cross the distance from China to Europe on foot, through deserts and mountains! Forget all about the quick conclusions on "the cruelty of the horde." That may have been the norm for the dark ages and for times of war. Perhaps Temujin (Genghis Khan) was a greater soul than he oftentimes is portrayed to be. This book is about a leader. It depicts an extraordinary man who had vision, acted on his convictions, inspired his people and led them to victory.

I read a paperback edition of this book when I was around 14 and lapped it up. It presents a harsh, no-nonsense world in which the strong survive and the weak perish. It is as if Lamb had just read Ragnar Redbeard's Might Is Right before he sat down to write this. The reader is swept away with the true story of the invincible and ruthless Mongol conqueror and his hoards. The exact historical facts are not so important as the mood of the book.

Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men is Harold Lamb's biography of the great Mongol conqueror. In the West, Genghis Khan doesn't seem to get half the attention that European conquerors like Napoleon and Alexander the Great did, even though Khan's accomplishments are much more impressive, both in the sheer area conquered as well as the duration of the empire.

Lamb does an excellent job painting Genghis Khan, the thirteenth century warlord, as a survivor, charismatic leader, and brilliant military strategist. The amount of land he took with the number of troops he had is virtually unbelievable. More impressive is that he left something of a dynasty: his sons and grandsons ruled after him without squabbling amongst themselves. Alexander the Great, by contrast, was scarcely in his grave before there was factional conflict.

Lamb's style is a bit dated (the book was originally published in the 1920s). His writing is lacking in punctuation. Many sentence fragments. And he doesn't always have a good flow to his narrative. He jumps around at times and doesn't satisfactorily flesh out certain things. More context would have been nice, as would have more and earlier background on the Mongol religion. But this is a short work, and on the whole, it's is a great introduction to a massive historical figure that is being forgotten by the West.

Let me correct a few inaccuracies posted here:

1. Genghis Khan is a Mongol, not Chinese. Mongolia and China are neighboring, yet completely distinct nations.

2. >>...they simply kept attacking until they achieved victory, no matter what the cost...>>
Not true. Underpopulated Mongolia couldn't afford such costs, especially against overpopulated China. I'd doubt that Genghis Khan personally cared much about his troops, but a general can't waste his force if his resources are limited. Mongolian army was always outnumbered, so they relied on mobility, tight organization, terror infliction (hence the word Hordes whereas there were not as many of them) and tactical tricks rather than perseverance.

Later, in the post-Genghis period, Mongolian army numbered in hundreds of thousands, deserving the name Hordes. They largely consisted of people of other nationalities hired during the campaign.

3. >>...He cared little for politics or religion, and used these only as tools...>>
I think that politics and religion have always been used as tools, don't you?

Temüjin, who later became known as Genghis Khan after the campaigns that took place in the few years before 1206 and left him master of the steppes , was the most powerful and ruthless Mongolian warrior in history. The title, Genghis Khan, meant Universal Ruler. Genghis Khan was master of the largest contiguous empire in history, extending from China's Pacific coast all the way to the Adriatic Sea. His Empire also lasted three generations.

The Mongols were a scattered nation of tribesmen. Even before the time of Genghis Khan, there were ruthless Mongol leaders who attacked other nations, but none did it with the scale and strategy of Genghis Khan. The Great Wall of China was in fact built to prevent the Mongols from invading China. Having always feared the Mongols, the Chinese often played the Mongol tribesmen as pawns, making them wage wars against each other, and thus weakening them. They were also often bribed with gifts to keep them from invading China.

The author first relates to us the harsh conditions in which the Mongols lived, setting the stage for Genghis Khan's barbarism. Life in the Gobi desert was an everyday struggle. Food and water were scarce. Hunting was not a sport, but a thin line between survival and death. Food was not easily shared between individuals. If a hunter did not fare well, his family would suffer. Kids had to fight for their milk, and only the lucky ones would get any. The Milk was however slightly fermented, so kids who drank it eventually felt tipsy. There were often skirmishes between the tribes, and killing one another was the way of life. The Gobi desert made Genghis Khan into a ruthless and unstoppable killer. He was orphaned in his teens; his family fell on bad times, and power among the Mongols passed to other clans. He became a warrior, and history views him as one of the greatest rulers, but he was a killer nevertheless.

Let's stop here for a second. History tends to glamorize Kings, Emperors, Rulers, and warriors of the past. Napoleon is seen as a genius. So is Genghis Khan. Was Charles Manson a genius? How about Jack the Ripper? How about the countless serial killers in our streets, should we glamorize them too? Genghis Khan killed hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children. So did Napoleon--so did many if not all of the emperors of the past. If today a serial killer, recruiting all the killers in a city, succeeds in taking over a whole city, and eventually takes over all adjacent States by terrorizing and murdering the inhabitants, would we glamorize him and call him a genius? What if he succeeds in taking over all of America, and names himself as the Emperor of the United States of America? Would he no longer become a serial killer in our eyes but a warrior and a genius? Is a crime forgiven and seen in a new light by the number of victims? Is a serial killer a murderer for killing a few dozens, but a genius and a great historical figure if he kills hundreds of thousands?

Genghis Khan killed hundreds of thousands because he wanted to be great; because he wanted the selfish glory of ruling the world. Today we allow him to bath in this glory, but at what price? How many children will grow up wanting to firmly place their name in the annals of history, and instead of following the footsteps of Einstein and other great scientists, they decide to follow the footsteps of such criminals as Genghis Khan? Does the world need more wars?

Okay back to the book, which by the way is a very well written historical biography of this lunatic mass murderer. Genghis Khan grew up believing in one God. He was religiously minded, carried along by his sense of a divine mission, and in moments of crisis he would reverently worship the Eternal Blue Heaven, the supreme deity of the Mongols. He believed that conquering the world was his divine mission. If his god is the same as ours, then God allowed such atrocities to take place. Not only did God allow them, but sent a Messiah to carry them through. Bush also believes he talks to God and that he has a divine mission. Bin Laden also has the same belief. Saddam Hussein believed that he had a divine mission to free Palestine. I must therefore conclude that either there is more than one god, or these people are hallucinating. I'll stick with the latter.

The weakness of the Mongols was the independence of each tribe from another. Genghis Khan managed to unite all the tribes together by basically killing their chieftains. He believed there could be only one ruler, and by that he meant world ruler as well, and he made himself the self-proclaimed one. He eventually managed to invade China, despite its Great Wall. Chinese Sympathizers opened one of the gates of the Great Wall for him. What was the use of the Great Wall of China if all it took was to open one gate and the enemy was in? Genghis Khan was thus able to invade and pillage the Chinese towns.

The author tells us that Genghis Khan was a genius in military strategy, and a tactful warrior. According to the author, it would be mistaken to see the Mongol campaigns as haphazard incursions by bands of marauding savages. Organization, discipline, mobility, and ruthlessness of purpose were the fundamental factors in his military successes. In one situation, seeing that one Chinese town offered unusually strong resistance to his invasion, he faked a withdrawal. The townspeople, thinking Genghis Khan had withdrawn, and that they had won, brought their guards down and went through their business as usual, expecting Genghis Khan to have retreated for good. Khan however hastily turned back in the middle of the night and charged the now unguarded city and pillaged it. Furthermore, on his campaigns he took all the leaders of the Mongol tribes with him so they wouldn't conspire or revolt against him during his absence.

Genghis Khan had greater selfish ambitions--China was not enough. He now wanted to conquer the world. He heard of greater powers to the West, and he wanted to put them down on their knees. He met the Muslims first. At first he forged an alliance with them for the sake of trade. But soon thereafter, after only one year, a Muslim leader kills some of Genghis Khan's traders, believing them to be spies. When Genghis Khan sends envoys to ask for justice, the Muslims kill the envoys as well. Seeking revenge, Genghis Khan attacks the Muslims and eventually wins. Their lands are conquered, and many are put to death.

Genghis' army was like a plague--unstoppable. Initially his troops were exclusively cavalry, riding the hardy grass-fed Mongol pony. With such an army, other nomads could be defeated, but cities could not be taken. Yet before long the Mongols were able to undertake the siege of large cities, using catapults, ladders, and burning oil, and even diverting rivers, which has baffled historians till this day. It was only gradually, through contact with men from the more settled states, that Genghis Khan came to realize that there were more sophisticated ways of enjoying power than simply raiding, destroying, and plundering. For example, it was only after the war against the Muslim empire of Khwârezm, in late 1222, that Genghis Khan learned from Muslim advisers the meaning and importance of towns. And it was another adviser, formerly in the service of the Jin emperor, who explained to him the uses of peasants and craftsmen as producers of taxable goods. He had intended to turn the cultivated fields of northern China into grazing land for his horses.

Massacres of defeated populations, with the resultant terror, were weapons he regularly used. His practice of summoning cities to surrender and of organizing the methodical slaughter of those who did not submit has been described as psychological warfare. But massacre was also mainly used for its own sake. Almost all writers, even those who were in the Mongol service, have dwelt on the enormous destruction wrought by the Mongol invasions. One Arab historian openly expressed his horror at the recollection of them. The 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris called them a "detestable nation of Satan that poured out like devils from Tartarus so that they are rightly called Tartars." He was making a play on words with the classical word Tartarus (Hell) and the ancient tribal name of Tatar borne by some of the nomads.

The author tells us that later in life Genghis Khan laments over all the bloodshed he has caused, and asks whether it was all worth it. Was this his guilty subconscious speaking?

Genghis Khan is known today as a great historical figure because out of nothing, and with unifying uncivilized, uneducated, and illiterate nomads, he managed to rule over the largest empire in history with numerically inferior armies. He made his own laws and his own code of behavior that had to be followed by all his subjects. Adultery, for example, was punished by death. He chose his successor, his son Ögödei, with great care, ensured that his other sons would obey Ögödei, and passed on to him an army and a state in full vigor.

Genghis Khan died from heavy drinking. His successors would extend their power over the whole of China, Persia, and most of Russia.

A little known historical fact is that one of Genghis Khan's grandsons visited Jerusalem.

No deed goes unpunished. Eventually, the Mongols were defeated by the Europeans, and the cycle of horror and injustice repeated itself in the New World.