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Great book
I got this book after reading How The Barbarian Invasions Shaped The Modern World by the same author. If you enjoyed his previous book that I mentioned earlier then you will love this book as well. It provides great information along with beautiful pictures to give more insight in most cases. If you pair this book with other history books and history tv specials this book becomes even more enjoyable. I highly recommend it for someone that loves history and is just looking for a fun but informative read about the Mongols.

A complete, lively survey of the Mongol conquests and the ascent of Genghis Khan to near world domination
The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History: How Genghis Khan's Mongols Almost Conquered the World offers a complete, lively survey of the Mongol conquests and the ascent of Genghis Khan to near world domination, following the empire's amazing expansion and rapid decline and offering history collections an exciting, solid survey. Libraries will find appealing this fine focus with its survey of social and political influences on Genghis Khan's actions.
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A detailed study of the arms and armour of the nomads of the Great Steppe in the 12th to 14th centuries, at the time of the Mongol expansion. The evidence and sources are described weapon by weapon: defensive arms (body armour and soft quilted armour, helmets and sheilds) and offensive arms (sabres, swords, spears, axes, maces, bows and arrows), war machines, explosive and chemical weapons, horse armour and harness. Finally there is a review of the late medieval warriors of the Great Steppe. The book provides a well-written English account of source material that is otherwise hard to reach and difficult to read. ... Read more

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This Dictionary, the first work of its kind written in English, examines the history of the Mongol Empire, the pre-imperial era of Mongolian history that preceded it, and the various Mongol successor states that continued to dominate Eurasia long after the breakdown of Mongol unity. ... Read more

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Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire (Historical Dictionaries of Ancient Civilizations and Historical Eras)
Excellent.Beneficial for my research.

Must-have book on the Mongol Empire
Buell is a master of the literature (in many languages) on the Mongol Empire, and his book is both a handy guide to the basics of the subject, and an expert, up-to-date summaryof the current state of the field. ... Read more

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The Powers of Prophecy is an original attempt to investigate the subject of medieval eschatological prophecies: how and in what circumstances they were written; how they circulated; what they told people about the future; and how they were received. Although scholars have studied the ideas of a few outstanding medieval prophetic thinkers or the role of prophecies in heretical movements and popular insurrections, up to now there has been no attempt to study the most commonplace medieval prophetic ideas as they were communicated in the most frequently copied and widely read anonymous prophetic texts.

Dedicated to pursuing the typical, Lerner's book traces the fortunes of an eschatological prophecy that was first written around 1240 and thereafter circulated throughout Western Europe for more than four centuries. Originally composed as a response to the Mongol onslaught, the prophecy was resurrected and reconceived to apply to other crises such as the fall of the Holy Land, the Black Death, and the Protestant Reformation. Although it was supposed to have descended form on high, allegedly being a message written by a disembodied moving hand over an altar during mass, countless scribes felt no qualms about recirculating the text with substantial changes. Among the many who took note of the prophecy in one or another of its numerous guises were the scholastic theological John of Paris; the Infante Peter, a prince of the house of Aragon; John Clyn, an Irish monk who entered it into his chronicle shortly before dying of the bubonic plague; and Martin Luther. ... Read more

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The ideal introduction to the long and complicated history of the Mongols, an area of history which suffers from a real dearth of works of synthesis.In the space of 200 hundred years, the Mongols built the greatest empire that the world had ever known and then lost it again. At its greatest extent, the lands they held dwarfed those under the control of Rome at its prime whilst the conquests of its founder, Genghis Khan, outshone those of even Alexander the Great. There were few parts of the known world that were not touched by the Mongols in one way or another: China, India, the Middle East, Europe, Egypt. This was truly a world empire.This is a tale of fiercely fought battles and political intrigue, of unrivaled ferocity and burning ambition. It is a tale not just of military campaigns, though these are of course a vital part of the building of the empire, but also of the many other ways that it grew. The Mongols truly believed that it was their destiny to conquer the world and they came mightily close to doing it.W.B. Bartlett has a long-standing relationship with Mongolia and has used his knowledge of the country and its history to tell this fascinating tale of how a tribe of little known nomads became the most feared warriors that the world has ever seen. ... Read more

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Nice survey, well illustrated
In this large format book, Kennedy gives us basic overviews of how some nomadic societies dominated neighbors through their proficiency in war. He covers Attila and the Huns, the Arabs during their period of expansion, the Turks, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and, strangely, the Vikings. Kennedy tells us that all adult male nomads were potential warriors; there were no civilians in these societies. He gives particular attention to the Mongols, devoting two chapters to them but only one each to the other groups.The chapter on the Vikings seems somewhat out of place, as they were not nomadic.

Most readers will gain new insights from these surveys.Kennedy's writing is fluid and readable, though not elegant. The book is well illustrated with color plates, colored maps, and black and white drawings. The maps of key battles are particularly well done.

Quality work, but...
Mongols, Huns and Vikings is another well written, well researched installment in the Cassell's History of Warfare series. The author, Hugh Kennedy, does a fine job of weaving comprehensible language into a serious, scholarly endeavor that keeps the reader hooked. The illustrations, maps and diagrams are excellent visual aids, particularly those 3-d battle graphics which effectively buttrusses textual decriptions of certain battles mentioned in the book. So, what's the problem? Well, I won't call it a problem.Let's call it a concern. Considering the extent of the Mongols' domain during the 13th century, and how successful they were at wedding undaunted ferocity on the battlefield to a keen strategic and tactical acumen that would win them 20th century admirers of the likes of Rommel, I am concerned that the author did not choose to focus exclusively on them. Why does he have the Mongols sharing space with groups of lesser military accomplishments? Maybe such a decision was not the author's perogative, but a desire of the editors of the series. I don't know. In any event, there is not enough literature, at least that I have been able to ascertain, on the Mongols. And for a formerly disparate bunch of hard scrabbling nomads who later went on to forge the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongols' low profile on the historical landscape is questionable. Again, I don't dispute the book's style or the accuracy of its content; I just wish there could have been a singular focus on the Mongols.

Armies in Search of a Country
Hugh Kennedy's "Mongols, Huns & Vikings" is the latest installment of Casell's History of Warfare series, a multi-volume collection edited by the Britsh historian John Keegan.The book is a bit mistitled--Arabs and Turks command more of the author's attention than, say, the Vikings--but it is still an interesting survey of nomad warfare in the Dark and Middle Ages.

Kennedy explains why, for 1,000 years, the nomads were so successful in their wars against civilization.They had incredible mobility, so that they could outmaneuver their opponents in battle.If things went badly, they could quickly vanish into the desert, steppes or ocean from which they had come.They were very tough and lived off the land, so they did not need long supply lines.They had capable leaders, who led because of their skills rather than because they were members of an established nobility. And they were an army in search of a country: every male in the nomad population was likely to be a skilled warrior, whether that meant firing an arrow from the back of a pony or swinging a sword on the deck of a ship.

For nearly 1,000 years, the nomads threatened the civilized world.But though they were very successful, surprisingly little is known about them: it may be true that history is written by the victors, but it is just as often the case that history is written by the people who can write.Because nomad societies tended to be illiterate, their history was usually told by their horrified victims.

And their victims had plenty to be horrified about.As Kennedy makes clear, the Mongols, Huns and Vikings had a very well-deserved reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness.The nomad threat began to wane only with the emergence of gunpowder weapons, which could not be easily obtained by nomads but could be produced in abundance by stable societies.

"Mongols, Huns and Vikings" is a reasonably well written, informative and well-illustrated survey of the rise and fall of the nomad warriors.The battle maps, in particular, are quite well done and very clearly lay out what is known about how several decisive battles were fought.... ... Read more

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The A to Z of the Mongol World Empire examines the history of the Mongol Empire, the pre-imperial era of Mongolian history that preceded it, and the various Mongol successor states that continued to dominate Eurasia long after the breakdown of Mongol unity.Divided into three parts, the first section is comprised of six introductory essays devoted to the:o Mongolia from the birth of TemYjin to the establishment of a Mongol Empire in 1206 o The Mongol Empire, 1206-1260 o The successor qanate of China o Mongol Iran o Ca'adai qanate of Turkistan o Golden HordeThe second section contains 865 entries with more than 600 topics including:o Persons o Institutions o Terminology o Battles o Aspects of material culture o Geographical features of importanceThe third section is comprised of a detailed bibliographical essay and three appendixes. ... Read more

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in Which Elephants and Wild Beasts Were Employed or Slain. And the Remarkable Local Agreement on History with the Remains of Such Animals Found in Europe and Siberia. Bound by Brentanos in later brown morocco and deep red cloth, with raised bands, gilt lettering and ruled frames in compartments, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers. 10 3/4" x 8". xv, 516 pp. Large folded lithographed map at frontis, 10 lithographed or engraved plates and maps, several folded. The plates include a portrait of Tamerlane, four elephants pulling Kublai Kahn's war castle into battle, Roman Coliseum containing wild animals. ... Read more

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Samurai. Mongol invasions of Japan, Nanban trade, Bakumatsu, Shud?, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Edo period, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Katana, Japanese sword mountings, Samurai cinema, List of Japanese battles, List of samurai, Ninja, Kendo, Japanese clans. ... Read more

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The Mongol tribes emerged from an area which had been habitated by humans as far back as the Stone Age, over 100,000 years ago. The peoples there went through the bronze age and iron age, then forming tribal alliances and beginning to battle with China. By the third century BC, there was evidence of a nomadic culture, comprising Turkic peoples in tribes which battled with each other and neighboring cultures. They were subdued temporarily by the growing strength of the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the 7th century, a time which also began to bring Nestorian Christian missionaries from Persia. Over the next few hundred years, the Chinese subtly encouraged warfare among the Mongol tribes, as a way of keeping them distracted from invading China. In the 12th century, the Mongol Genghis Khan was able to unite or conquer the warring tribes, forging them into a fighting force which went on to create the largest empire in world history ... Read more

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The European Avars, or Ancient Avars, were a highly organized and powerful medieval confederation of a mixed ethnic background. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit retinue of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups. Although the name Avar first appeared in the mid fifth century, the Avars of Europe enter the historical scene in the mid sixth century C.E., when they established a pax spanning considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Avar rule persisted over much of the Pannonian Plain up to the early 9th century. ... Read more

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Powerless "book"
European Avars(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E): Age of Enlightenment(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), House of Bourbon(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), European Avars(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Khagan(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Turkic peoples(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Mongols(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Central and Eastern Europe(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Pannonian Plain(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Oghur languages(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Khazar language(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E), Bulgar language(W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E) (Paperback).

You get the picture: everything in this expensive "book" is a: (W I K I P E D I AA R T I C L E) ... Read more

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Mongol invasion of Europe - Mongol invasion of Rus,Mongolinvasion of Poland, Subutai, Battle of Legnica,Kingdom ofHungary, Béla IV of Hungary, Battle of Mohi, Batu Khan,Golden Horde, Ögedei Khan, Battle of the Kalka River,Mongolinvasion of Volga Bulgaria, Franco-Mongol alliance ... Read more

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DONT' BUY !!!!!
All they did was copy Wikipedia articles and put them in a "book". What a rip-off! I would also stay away from any other books by the publisher - Alphascript Publishing. ... Read more

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Mongol Empire - Mongols before Genghis Khan, ChagataiKhanate, Golden Horde, Ilkhanate, Yuan Dynasty, Timuriddynasty, Mughal Empire, Crimean Khanate, Khanate ofSibir,Dzungars, Mongolia during Qing rule, History of modernMongolia, Mengjiang, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Aimak, GenghisKhan, Khamag Mongol, Mongol military tactics andorganization, Organization of the Mongol Empire underGenghis Khan, Christianity among the Mongols, Tengriism,Mongol invasion of Central Asia, Mongol invasion of Rus',Mongol invasion of Europe, Franco-Mongol alliance ... Read more

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Painting has played a central role in Iranian culture. Iran's indigenous pre-islamic past, together with Arab, Turkish, and Mongol influences, have combined to produce an art which continues to intrigue, dazzle and sometimes mystify its admirers.Published in honor of Basil W. Robinson, Keeper Ereitus at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and key contributor to the growing scholarly interest in Persian miniatures for over 60 years, this book brings together leading specialists on Persian painting. ... Read more

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The Kalila wa Dimna, animal tales known in the West through Les Fables of La Fontaine, can be traced to 4th-century India.Written for the edification and amusement of princes and magistrates, they were second in popularity only to the Koran.The witty dialogue of the animal characters, led by two scheming jackals called Kalila and Dimna, reveal a Machiavellian code of behavior and mirror a real world of intrigue, diplomacy, and statecraft. Though the tales have been illustrated numerous times, it was in the 14th-century Mongol court of Persia that they inspired one of the most remarkable works of Persian art--a narrative cycle of paintings now in the collections of the Istanbul University Library.The paintings, which match the text in wit, spirit, and drama, are unsurpassed in their beauty and vigorous style.This book, a lively translation of the tales and a study of fifty paintings from the original manuscript, explores the ways in which the artists enriched and expanded the content of the fables, revealing a uniquely personal and mystical interpretation. Beautifully illustrated in full color and black-and-white, the book will interest a wide range of readers interested in art history and Middle Eastern and East Asian studies. ... Read more

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Aden, of old one of the main Eerasian ports for goods from China, Southeast Asia and India on their way to the Mediterranean lands, was controlled during the 13th -15th centuries by the Rasulid dynasty. One of their kings, al-Malik al-Afdal al-Abbas b. Ali (1363-1377) wrote multilingual glossaries of extraordinary importance, universally termed the "Rasulid Hexaglot". Its emergence caused quite a stir. This is an authorative translation, commentary and explanation of the socio-historical context surrounding this important text. The Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Greek, Armenian and Mongol languages in the King's Dictionary were the most important tongues of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Greek, Armenian and Mongol sections, in particular, provide examples of transcriptions of living vernacular forms of the era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic amusement if handled correctly
This wonderful (and frightening) list of words is not merely of interest to linguists, philologists or amateur language lovers. It also gives some insight into the world of men who wielded power in Western Asia, including Iran, parts of Central Asia and by implication the Indian Ocean as well. How do pre-national military formationsfunction practically (aka how much Arabic or Persian do I need to know if I am a newly converted Anatolian Greek in 1350 and want to become a mercenary at a rich lord's court)?

However, I would not buy the book if you have to survive on a grad student budget. Try to get access to it at an academic library and enjoy it first. It is a great way to spend your time, provided you have enough historical imagination. I should note, however, that if your favorite way of making war includes bombing civilians, you should try a computer war game instead.

bookywooky
I havent read the book, but I thought I was going to when I clicked a link that brought me here.. ... Read more

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To some people, Genghis Khan was a very evil man. He reportedly killed millions of people, most of them in cold blood. To others, he was the man who established an era of peace and prosperity. This achievement allowed the free exchange of ideas and new inventions between Asia and Europe.

One thing is certain. According to the results of a newspaper poll, he was the Man of the Millennium. That means he was the most important human being to live between the years 1000 and 2000.

What is especially remarkable about Genghis Khan is that he even lived to manhood. His family was abandoned on the harsh steppes of Central Asia. Somehow they managed to survive. Genghis began an upward climb that several times nearly resulted in his death. He overcame those obstacles. Leading one of history’s most remarkable armies, he established one of the largest empires in world history. ... Read more