Customer Reviews

Men and Gods in Mongolia: The Third Book in Our Mystic Traveller Series

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I stumbled across this book around a year ago and found it to be an excellent account of adventure in old Mongolia. It is always a pleasure to read accounts from Asia that do not have a Buddhist slant to it, but a neutral stance observing the customs of this area. I enjoyed his tales from the monasteries and his encounters with Oracles and Spirit Mediums. Haslund provides great color and textures to his account of one of the great Asian expeditions of all time.

This is the Danish Henning Haslunds second book chronicling his adventures and explorations in Mongolia during the 1920s. This was during a time period when this part of the world was similar to the wild west and the outside worlds influence was only just beginning to creep in. Like his other book, In Secret Mongolia, it often reads like a Jack London story, except this is real. But Haslund never slips into corny tough guy semantics or over dramatize the harsh conditions or danger that he was in at times during his journey. He is quite matter of fact about everything. I am amazed and impressed at how tough, knowledgable and self sufficent the Danes and Swedes on this adventure were.

If this book has a fault its that Haslund very much takes a "noble savage" view of many of the Mongolian tribes, especially the Torguts, in spite of their sometimes barbaric tendencies. The Mongols historical brutality in times past towards Slavic people in eastern Europe is not even mentioned once that I can remember. In Secret Mongolia is probably a little bit better but this one is still a fascinating must read book.