Customer Reviews

Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men

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I have read this book twice. I was amazed by the description of military strategies and detailed description of just how far the empire reached. This latter is, I believe not realized by many-the incursions into Russia and Western Europe. The impact was, I believe, much greater than the average reader has had exposure to. The territory was massive and sexual tactics changed the genetic makeup of a huge amount of countries. Average history does not teach the impact of rape and its' obvious effect on ethnic, cultural, and racial genetic pools. One can see modern countries that still reflect this genetic impact.

Lamb's histories all read more like historical fiction. He piques your interest and keeps it from the opening page to the very end. Although not a scholarly study of the Great Khan, the book informs as well as entertains.

This is one of the best biographies I've read. The author does an excellent job of bringing the reader along the road of Genghis Khan's accomplishments and the great destructiveness he wielded in building an empire. At the end, you can't help but respect and be appalled by the man.

A brilliant recounting of the life of a dominating figure of the 13th century. I am very surprised that the events of the Genghis Khan are not thought in schools. Due to this disappointing fact, I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates large scale conquests and for those who like to study history.

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.

This was a concise and quite interesting summary of a man who conquered a half of the world. A good attempt was made to examine Genghis Kahn the man, and not get caught up in technical and mechanical details. However, it would've been even nicer if the book contained more maps and relevant illustrations to enliven its content. E.g., a map showing the routes that he and his generals took from Gobi to Persia would be have been a fascinating illustration, a map showing who conquered which territory would've been good, too.

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 about "the cruelty of the hordes." 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 is oftentimes 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.

Harold Lamb truly captures the essence of the man and the legend that was Temujin. Ghengis Khan rode rough-shod over half of the known world with a force of will and determination that has never been duplicated in the centuries since.

This is history of the best kind. Everyone who has heard of the name Genghis Khan should read this book. It will cast a new light on all the old myths we've all heard in the movies, TV, and in speculation. Keep this book on your "favorites" shelf.