Book: Jack Weatherford's "Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World"

Earlier this year I read "The Ottomans" in an attempt to fill holes in my knowledge of history.  Continuing this hole filling my next book, suggested to me by a friend of mine (VagabondZebra247), was Jack Weatherford's "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World".

This book, about the life of Genghis Khan and the creation of the Mongol empire, is written as a history book should be written.  The book reads like a novel.  You get invested in Genghis Khan's life and his ascendancy to the leadership of the Mongol empire that he built.

I knew very little about the Mongols just like I knew little about the Ottomans.  The little I knew was skewed by the eurocentric view of modern historical education.  This bias is so unfair to these asian civilizations who often develop government and social structures before the Europeans.  For example, while the Europeans were obsessed with Christianity the Mongols practiced an aggressive freedom of religion.  I never knew that many Mongol leaders were christian.

The Mongol empire started with massive conquest of the asian continent, transformed into a mercantile and trade behemoth, before succumbing to the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) which their trade routes spread to Europe.  Along the way Genghis Khan and his descendants changed the world and made it what it is today.

I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads.  An excellent history and a true eye opener.