Upon reading Jack Weatherford's historical account of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, published in 2004, you begin to see the Chinese calendar in a whole new light. The author has given it literary and historical significance. You can finally relate the year of the horse to 1212, when Genghis Khan rode out on his trusty stallion and restored the Khitan monarchy to all its power and magnificence; the year of the pig to 1215, when Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde first brought fine meaty delicacies, such as ham and pork chops, back to his starving people from conquered civilizations to the east; the year of the rabbit to 1219, when he and the Mongols proceeded westward-- dashing, zig-zagging and, hopping around like a programmable "Ever Ready" Easter bunny on steroids with a computer chip for a brain toward the citadel of Kwarizm, liberating untold wealth and achieving the pinnacle of success; the year of the dragon to 1220, when he and his behemoth Mongol army captured Bukhara to the south, known as the jewel of Islam; and so forth, until the fierce, fire-breathing Mongol army conquered every major city in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia in the greatest show of strength, prowess, agility, and military might ever experienced to date. Thus, the author continues to provide anxious readers with useful gems of information throughout the entire book, constantly mining for facts, refining the details, expounding and elaborating upon the major historical events as he narrates the story. Ultimately, he sets it all on the table and puts everything to the test. In a nutshell, he gives the incredible story of Genghis Khan the breath of life, cinematic-quality, and panoramic perspective. The Khan becomes a dominant, larger-than-life, archetype character, the main driving force, in his leading role as a great military leader and guru. Specifically, perhaps speaking facetiously, you can glean more common sense wisdom out of absorbing the facts, figures, details, and events, which the author cavalierly presents in this esoteric book, than you might otherwise digest in the course of a lifetime of oblivious, sedentary, gravitationally challenged occupations in an exercise in futility, like watching television soap operas all afternoon, before suddenly waking up, smelling the coffee, and attaining enlightenment at some point in time, as follows:
It was once said, but rarely repeated, that in the not too distant past, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of miles away, a group of rough and tumble henchmen intercepted, humiliated, tortured, then cruelly and unceremoniously put to death a poor, humble emissary of peace, not knowing the Great Mongol Khan and his mighty army horde was right behind the envoy, just over the next hilltop, and would not be denied.
Utilizing the military tactics learned over the years from the mighty Genghis Khan, after his death in battle in 1227, his sons and grandsons picked up where he left off, having grasped the tactical importance of a variety of attack modes, including the "dogfight," "silent attack," "lightning strike," and "divine wind."
In the "dragnet," for example, you never know what kind of hoofed animals and wild hogs might be scooped up for a Royal Mongolian Barbecue.
Therefore, in long, protracted wars, and laboring under all conditions, the Mongols perpetuated their reputation as having a viable, unified, highly organized, and very effective fighting force. Reading between the lines, you learn what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.
In 1236, the year of the monkey, Batu's leading general attacked the Volga River region of Bulgar. A few short years later, in 1240, the year of the rat, the Mongols attacked Kiev. Afterwards, Khan Batu came to be known as Tsar Batu. He has left an impressive legacy.
After the death of Genghis Khan's sons, Ogodei and Batu, their sons continued the aggressive actions of their fathers before them. Ogodei's sons attacked China and Batu's sons attacked Europe, automatically assuming command in their places.
In 1241, the three Princes of Mongolia, Batu, Buri, and Guyuk began squabbling among themselves for a time, halting progress in their invasion of Europe. It is not clear whether or not their differences were satisfactorily resolved, but this did not prevent the Mongol army from attacking the German knights and defenders at Walhstatt. The Mongols had easily lured the knights into a trap and defeated them handily. Duke Henry II was killed in the battle. But, according to the author, the battle had been fought merely as a diversion for the Mongols. The real objective for the Mongol army was Budapest, Hungary. Within three days march away, the invaders killed an estimated 100,000 Hungarian and Polish soldiers who came out to greet them. King Bela IV was forced to flee, and miraculously escaped the carnage.
Near the end of 1241, Khan Ogodei died, and the full-scale invasion of Europe suddenly ceased. The Mongols left without a word, without further ado, perplexing all concerned. In 1242, the year of the tiger, the Mongols simply withdrew from W. Europe altogether, back to their expanding Russian stronghold base. By 1255, all four of Genghis Khan's sons had died. So, it came to pass that the men fought the wars, but their women ruled the empire, as suggested by the author. So it was the Mongols who must have coined or invented the term, "the power behind the throne."
In July, 1251, Mongke Grand Khan was proclaimed the supreme ruler of the Mongolian empire. He was the son of Genghis Khan's youngest son, Tolui. His mother, Sorkhokhtani, ruled N. China and E. Mongolia. Definitely worthy of mention is the fact that all four of her sons would become Khans: Arik Bok, Hulegu, Kubilai, and Mongke. The family certainly had a complicated genealogy.
In 1253, the year of the ox, Mongke Khan set forth a magnificent celebration, feast, and a religious debate among the prominent religions of Buddhism, Muslim, and Christianity. There were years of peace and prosperity and they must not have had anything better to do at the time. In August, 1259, as the author faithfully relates, Mongke Khan died.
In 1260, Arik Bok became the Great Kahn. But he was ousted by his brother Kubilai Khan in a coup soon afterwards. He died in 1266, under mysterious circumstances. Definitely suspicious. You wonder what really happened.
Kubilai Khan's greatest achievement was in conquering and unifying all of China by mostly peaceful means. Essentially, he unified China through the use of a strong army, influential propaganda, a benevolent administration and instituting fair policies. The author makes several such perceptive inferences in that chapter of history. You may draw your own conclusions. Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. We know why they built the "Great Wall of China."
The stories themselves and the timeline presented by the author certainly provides a firm framework for analytical readers who want to dig, delve, and dive deeply into material of the book in order to discover juicy pearls of sensational facts and fascinating multi-faceted, ruby-red details about the numerous countries involved; the so-affected and impacted regions of the then-known world; and their powerful, enigmatic, illustrious leaders, hitherto largely unknown entities. History may ordinarily be considered a dry, tedious subject in general, but, I am positively certain, that reading about the great Mongol horde will quickly become a worthwhile endeavor for anyone with an inquiring mind, particularly those who want to know exactly what "the enemy" has been thinking all those years.
Particularly, when they are skeptical that a large, motley, scattered band of poor, illiterate, back-woods marauders could possibly have traveled over such great distances for so many years to fight battle after battle together against trained soldiers protectively ensconced on solid foundations and secured behind the dense, thick rock walls of fortified castles. It boggles the mind to think that they could shoot up Main Street in town on Saturday night like drunken cowboy outlaw revelers; or attack the Fort, like a renegade tribe of wild North American Indian warriors, massacring everyone inside, then moving on to the next fortified city. Perhaps, it is speculative science fiction to think so, but I begin to wonder if there hasn't been a massive cover-up about a thousand years ago, or even farther back in time; if there wasn't an undisclosed "Area 51, Roswell, New Mexico" from some technologically advanced civilization hidden within the dense forests and inside rugged mountain caverns, somewhere in the more remote, desolate, and isolated regions of Mongolia. Where exactly did the space ship land? Where did all the flying saucers go? Far-fetched as it may seem, Europe, China, and the Middle East might actually have been invaded in the medieval ages by alien beings, originating from another planet in a far distant galaxy, who suddenly appeared on Earth in human form, and infiltrated the Mongol army horde, solely in order to have them turn the tide of history in their favor. On the other hand, maybe they were just looking for the "Lost Ark of the Covenant," and the raiders had to fight everyone along the path to get there. Only the physical evidence and concrete proof is missing.
R. Royce was snorkeling at an as of yet undisclosed location when he noticed a school of sharks pass beneath him in the oceanic depths. He thought, "I should have stuck to noodling for catfish in the tributaries of the Missouri River."
That made him think about something he told his sister some months ago, "Don't let your mother and your sister drive you crazy and let them ruin your life." All of them have such willful minds. They are stubbornly determined, persistent, and totally committed to their actions. "Can't they just let it slide for a change?" Elders don't want change. They can't deal with it. Youth wants to try a fresh, novel approach. She's stuck in the middle and can't escape her destiny.
Later on the beach, Royce called Cornelius Korn, his business associate and long-time friend on his cellular telephone. "The sharks have arrived to have the barnacles scraped from their bellies, ingest their vitamins, and get their shot records updated," he said. "How are things going on base?"
"Couldn't be better," replied Korn. "Three subs will arrive within the month for routine maintenance and resupply. Technicians will modify and upgrade their electronics equipment. The excavation and construction project is moving along like clockwork."
"The O-club has been bustling with activity, as have the USO office and Recreation Center. The troops couldn't be happier," said Royce. "Island Adventures is a trip out of this world."
"There's no shortage of pirate booty in Bluebeard's Duty Free Store, either," said Alexis Sue Shell, Cornelius's girlfriend, grinning.
"Let's go, Buck-O," said Raquel Remington. "But, I don't want to pressure you in any way." They had been happily sipping Margaritas in the shade and cool tropical breeze of a nearby Tiki hut. "Talk about an ocean view!"
"Hickory liquory daiquiri dock. See the surfers on the boardwalk." sang Alexis, enthusiastically. She was poetry in motion.
"Why they're none other than the famous Hollywood movie moguls and Italian film directors, Royce and Korn," said Raquel, as they walked toward them and bellied up to the bar.
"We eat spaghetti westerns for breakfast," said the jovial Korn.
"Trinity is still my name," said Royce, referring to an Italian movie of the same name.
"My red, swollen feet hurt terribly," exclaimed Korn, suddenly mildly irritated, pointing down to his bare appendages. The sandals he was wearing exposed his tender feet.
"You probably thought you'd stepped on a jelly fish, and he turned out to be a Portuguese man of war," said Royce, now smiling congenially.
"Definitely not a Squid or a Navy Seal," retorted Korn.
"Yes, he might have kicked your derriere, otherwise," said Royce.
Along about that time another couple strolled up, Richard Ishtabuhla and Heather Meriwether. He was the former King Richard III in exile and she was his Lady. They were traveling incognito, and mum was the word. The last to arrive was Sailor Dan Sandhurst, another undercover operative, and business associate of the present party. He came to pass along a message. The Phluegers would be arriving in a few days to make final preparations for the sale and transfer of the newly constructed corporate headquarters building on the island. It was a big deal about to bear fruit. Official now, the navies from a dozen or more allied nations had signed a 99 year lease for the use of the land and facilities at the proposed top-secret subterranean submarine base.
"We plan on catering to all of their military needs," said Sandhurst. He was actually a highly competent contract, procurement, and logistical officer. Someone misquoted him as having said, "If the Navy wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one." Before too long, he was happily engaged and living in paradise.
"You come highly recommended by my young Aunt," confessed Daisy Mae Jones, his sweetheart, when they first met at the Academy.
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Pages of the book are all messed up! So disappointing!
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2021
Got this book for my husband. He was enjoying it until he hit page 21... then things weren't making sense. He looked at the page numbers and it jumped from page 21 to 221! Then it goes from there to 252 then back to page 61... it is all messed up! DO NOT BUY! I had to put a star in order to submit but intended for it to have 0 stars. It isn't about the story, it is about the publishing company.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2021
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Sal Paradise
Vague but mildly interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 10, 2019
paul callick
terrific overview of the Monguls
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 20, 2022
Kate
Great read - so informative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 29, 2019
