R. Johnson

Enlightening to the Amateur Historian, July 14 2004

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World was exciting and enlightening read. Jack Weatherford's style of writing is easy and flowing making what could be a dry historical work into a tale that explain or debunks many of the myths surrounding the Mongol empire.

Whet your appitite:
-The Mongols had an aversion to physical contact with their dying enemies.
-Both the Russians and Nazis used Mongol military tactics on the Russian front in WWII.
-The Mongols connected the known world inadvertently spreading the bubonic plague.

A few things to note:
-Genghis Khan dies half way through the book. The remainder of the book discusses the man as defined by his legacy… Read more