Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World

The armies of Genghis Khan, legendary founder of the Mongol Empire, breached the Great Wall of China and captured Peking. They crushed all resistance in Afghanistan, Persia and southern Russia through massacres and pillage, and between 1237 and 1242 invaded Europe. The speed and scale of their conquests - and the gruesome mounds of skulls they left behind them - have earned Genghis Khan a place in the popular imagination. Paying particular attention to the Mongol invasion of Europe, this book analyzes how Genghis Khan was able to unite the primitive Mongol tribes of the harsh Siberian steppes and organize them into highly mobile and disciplined squadrons which he used with devastating effect against his opponents. It describes how he created a regime so strong that, after his death, his ungifted son was able to extend the conquests, and how signs of the disintegration of the largest empire the world had known did not appear until the reign of his second successor. The book also explores Europe's contacts with the Mongol Empire, and particularly the Vatican's despatch of envoys to the great Khan in his capital of Qaraqorum.