312
pages, Broadway Books, ISBN-13: 978-0609809648
Genghis Khan and
the Making of the Modern World
a well-written book that gives a good overall insight into the life of Genghis
Khan and his conquests – but it suffers from an overly positive view of the man
and overstatement of the Mongol empire’s effect on history and the modern
world. Surely, Genghis Khan is one of history’s greatest conquerors and
military tacticians, but going as far as to say that his empire was a precursor
to the Renaissance in Europe (which owes a whole lot more to ancient Rome and
Greece) and the subsequent “modern civilization” is going way overboard. Also,
the author too easily excuses the unprecedented mass murder, plundering, rape,
and destruction that the Mongols left in their wake. These oversights sour what
is otherwise a well-researched and well-written book about the great conqueror.
Genghis Khan is certainly a great historical figure with a fascinating story, rising
as he did from enslavement to a rival tribe to uniting all the Mongol tribes
and amassing the largest contiguous land empire in the history of mankind.
Genghis was one extremely determined individual with an iron will and
extraordinary charisma to lead a nation of illiterate nomads to conquer so many
nations and cultures in a relatively short period of time…but in the macro view
of world history, the Mongol empire’s legacy simply isn’t all that great –
certainly not comparable to the empires established by Alexander the Great or
the Romans.
What
I find irksome amongst the Genghis Khan biographers and historians is that they
always point out how much larger his empire was than that of Alexander or the
Romans as though how much territory Genghis Khan overran and plundered is the
sole overriding factor for who the “greatest” conqueror was. Things have to be
observed and analyzed in the context of the times, the geography, and political
situations of the surrounding areas, and upon doing so it becomes obvious that what
Genghis Khan achieved definitely isn’t quite in the league of Alexander, Caesar
and Napoleon (it’s akin to saying that Canada
and Russia are both larger countries than the United States or China’s population is much greater than that
of the United States and Europe combined – hence, they must be greater).
In
the great scheme of things, the Mongols were simply marauders on the grandest
scale with Genghis Khan at the helm organizing them into an efficient and
disciplined fighting organization. As the book itself makes quite clear, the
motives were simply to acquire luxuries like silk and jewelry that the Mongols
had never ever seen before they embarked on their initial conquests. Once they
tasted this kind of booty, their appetite and the means to acquire even more
booty knew no bounds, and if a distant kingdom refused to submit and hand over
their goods and treasures, the Mongol cavalry would come and kill every single
inhabitant to acquire them. No matter how you look at it, this is all that the
Mongol conquests boiled down to. What positive things did the Mongols really
have to offer to those that they conquered? There is no doubt that the effects
of the Mongol conquests were felt for centuries to come and the greatest
benefit was that they speeded up the trade and cultural exchanges between the
West and the Far East; this was first documented by Marco Polo, for Christ’s
sake. Still, Weatherford too often extrapolates exchanges like these into
something far greater through circumstantial evidence and conjectures. While I agree
that Genghis Khan was a pivotal figure in history, the claims of just how
far-reaching the effects of his empire were are overwrought and exaggerated to
the point of absurdity.
Like
other conquering historical figures, historical evidence for or against Genghis
Khan is often scarce and difficult to substantiate, but it isn’t too difficult
to disseminate the flow of history before or after that particular figure’s
era. When examining Genghis Khan, we see that his main legacy is of plunder for
plunder’s sake; he was the ultimate businessman who made a simple request: your
booty or your life. Once that “transaction” was established, Genghis Khan and
his offspring organized something more sophisticated to keep the booty flowing
into their coffers. There were no ideals of spreading Mongol literature,
philosophy, culture, arts, education, religion, or goods to the lands and
cities they conquered (indeed, there is debate if there is, in fact, such a thing
as Mongol literature, philosophy, culture, arts, education, religion, or goods).
I
am taking a rather cynical view here of Genghis Khan and the legacy of his
empire, but if you look at it all afar from a macroperspective covering many
centuries right before or after his era, it’s evident that the Mongol empire
has had very little lasting effect except the legacy of plunder and murder on
an unprecedented scale. Weatherford too often twists historical facts and
opinions alike into something that puts Genghis Khan in an overly positive
light. This effort by Weatherford is only too evident as you read page after
page of gushing about what amazing feats the Mongols accomplished and how they
were the very first to do this and that and how those tactics and inventions
were adopted by so and so at a later date by so and so, etc. It’s an interesting
book but not something I’d recommend for someone looking for a more balanced and
unbiased look at Genghis Khan. The largest contiguous land empire in history
was hardly the greatest.
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