Customer Reviews

Subotai the Valiant: Genghis Khan's Greatest General

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unfortunately little information is available from that era as to Subotai the man. As a subordinate, the scribes of the Royal Court would have naturally spent most of their historical writings (accurate or exaggerated) about the Khans themselves more than their subordinate generals. I believe that the author was fortunate to have scraped together what information that he could for this book by referencing what little material there is out there that cover Subotai the man (and his boyhood, etc., etc.). Of course maybe some more historical novels would be the right answer in that way some novelist's opinion could be used as an accurate measure of "who was Subotai"!

I believe that the author did an exceptional job in outlining the tremendously advanced tactical, operational, and strategical methods that Subotai (along with methods also developed by Genghis as he united the various Mongol tribes into one entity and then organized them). At a minimum, Subotai ranks up there with the greatest military commanders of all times: Alexander, Rommel, Jackson, etc. - but in reality, was so advanced for his time in history and developed to such a degree advancements that would not be seen again for centuries and possessed such an overall record of achievement (conquering 32 nations and winning 65 battles) that one must consider him most probably THE greatest military commander of all time to this point.

With the information prsented in this book - that is so lacking just about anywhere else - I can forgive the fact that the author didn't report on personal historical facts that he had no references to draw from!

I have to say I really enjoyed this book, but I love reading about Mongolian military campaigns so I am easy to please. There is a very finite amount of information available on Subotai the man, so Gabriel needs to be cut a little slack if he filled the book with a lot of other information.

The author is absolutely correct that not enough attention is paid by military historians regarding the incredibly talented field staff that commanded the forces of Genghis Khan. Perhaps a better book would rather have covered all the main staff figures instead of just Subotai. Arguments can be made of the greatness of Jochi, Mugali, Jebe and others, and whether Subotai was more brilliant is hard to know.

Even though I have read considerable Mongol history, I found some very useful information and really did enjoy reading the book. For example the description on p120 regarding the Battle of Liegnitz, "...The Hungarians had been steppe dwelling horse archers before settling in the Danube basin less than 2 centuries earlier. They were well led and accustomed to the tactics of mobile warfare as practiced by the Mongols. Its an interesting question to investigate: at what distance were the Mongol's neighbors aware of their style and capabilities. Not an easy question to answer.

In the Sajo River campaign section he also adds, "...Bella's army was perhaps 100,000 strong, and outnumbered the Mongols. Comprising numerous contingents of armored knights, the major part of this army of former Magyar nomads was horse archers thoroughly familiar with Mongol tactics."

I think everything I read specifically concerning Subotai I had already read and reread via other sources, but that is not surprising. The book is well illustrated with maps and diagrams and various images of Mongols and their gear. The end of the book includes a good bibliography, though it is far from complete. If you're a Mongol fan, than I highly recommend the book.

An interesting, readable and fairly unique book. There are a number of books discuss the Mongol military history, but Gabriel makes point that although Mongol military history is covered in books on that particular subject, it is neglected in general military history, and one of his purposes in writing this book is the urge a rectification of the omission. I don't know of any other books on the Mongols that focus on one of the generals -- generally biographies are strictly about Chinghis Khan and Kublai Khan. This is a great pity: even a book of short biographies of other personalities could add enormously to one's understanding of the period. Gabriel here sticks pretty closely to Subotai military career, except in discussing the beginning and end of his life. Personally, if there is more information, I wish it was included, because the biographies of characters who are poorly documented or less important can be the vehicle for a general exploration of a typical life of that class and era. That of course is a personal opinion, and I don't fault the book on that account. Recommended to people interested in Asian and military history.

In my opinion Richard Gabriel is a master at making historical treatise easy AND enjoyable reading. His depth of research clearly shows through. I look forward to reading any and all of his works.

The Mongols under Subotai were the greatest fighting force in history.
A must for any anyone interested in military history.
Subotai and the Mongels versus Manstein and the Germans, in the Superbowl

Purchased for father. He said he read it front to back and for a man that doesn't read a whole lot of books, that probably says something!

As a book about Mongol tactics and campaigns it was quite good, as a book about Subotai Bagatur it fell a bit short of my expectations. I have read a few books about Genghis Khan and this one doesn't deviate to far from what I have learned and I give the author some points for the graphs and such detailing mongol tactics, but Gabriel leaves quite a few factual points unattended. At some points he explains events very thoroughly and at other points he gives you educated guesses, which for me was a bit of a downer.

He does deserve credit for trying to undertake a project such as a biography of Subotai, but I am forced to wonder if he just used the title to grab attention, because the main points are not even about Subotai. This book would be much smaller if it were just left to Subotai because there is so much filler that is unrelated, yet still interesting, to the title of the book.

You might be better off picking a different book unless you really want to know what little there is to know about Subotai.

This book is poorly researched. Instead of taking the time to understand the key sources, the author makes use of low quality secondary sources combined with guess work and speculation. Sube'etei can be associated with more than 20 campaigns and more than 35 battles. The author deals only with a few of these and not even able to reconstruct these correctly. This book should be classed as fiction.

When I purchased the book, I had hoped it would be more about the man behind many of the great Khan's successful campaigns. Gabriel provides plenty of insights in an easy-to-read novel about a master military tactician.

I had hoped that the book would contain more information with regards to Subotai's character. What makes him tick? The introduction was good, which provided a history of young Subotai, and I certainly would like to have read more about his development.

Subotai the Valiant was also Subotai the "Violent," who even by 13th century standards was brutally vicious in the slaughter of tens of thousands of noncombatant victims. Many of whom he arbitrarily slew just because he could. Gabriel relates some of these atrocities but excuses most of them because it worked to put fear into the enemy. Most Mongol generals and princes made Hitler look like a Kindergarten teacher.
The book is about one man, Subotai, but a brief history of the totality of the Mongol conquest successes AND failures would have been very useful. Yes failures; i.e. the Tokugawa Shoganate Japan twice, Mamluke Egypt three separate times, the Ghulam state of India and Annamese Vietnam were all successful at repulsing the Mongols for various reasons. These were ignored ostensibly because Subotai didn't fight in these battles. Battles where the Mongols were successful but Subotai wasn't present were mentioned, (mostly Genghis' battles.)
Then when Gabriel discusses the Mongols conquest of Russia, where there is a fair amount of info on Subotai and what he did to the Russians he edits a great deal out! The details of the battles in many cases for the Russian campaigns are extant and translated into English so it is a bit puzzling why he didn't use them, except to save Subotai's image from being a Mongol monster.
In strategy there are two ways of fighting: fighting to create destruction and fighting to create a decision. Most strategists understood that the first didn't always lead to the second. The best strategists could tell the difference. For all his brilliance there were many times when Subotai didn't.
"Subotai the Valiant" was written for the layman. It is not a treatise for historians. It is written in an easy to read style and moves along quickly. It will be helpful to have a basic background in the history of the 13th century before reading this book but it could be used as a jumping off point if you like research.