I'm a retired historian of early Islam and writer of historical fiction set in medieval Iraq, Turkic, and Persian lands. I write and love to read novels that âdo history.â In other words, historical fiction that unravels the tangles of history through the lives of its characters, especially when told from the perspectives of those upon whom elite power is wielded. My selections are written by authors who speak from an informed position, either as academic or lay historians, those with a stake in that history, or, like me, both, and include major press, small press, and self-published works and represent the histories of West Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia, and South Asia.
The magnificence
of the first in the Amalgant series is the immersive
reconstruction of Mongol social, political, and religious worlds, as well as the
lives of its people. Hammond resistantly reads histories produced by hostile
cultures, instead privileging the earliest and most comprehensive Mongol
tellings of their own lives, The
Secret History of the Mongols. This is no dry historical account of
cultural norms, steppe relations, or material artifacts, but an intimate and
humane telling of the personal tragedies and struggles that would change the
world as the war-orphaned Temujin grows to be the man we know as Chenggiz Khan.
Mother Hoelun was never ashamed or embarrassed by their hardships. When Jochi wore a dogâs pelt for a cloak, because they had no fleeces and no felt and had to trade for hides and dog was cheap, none of the children felt a sense of indignity. Indignity was alien to her.The Mongols are a people of orphans. A disastrous battle with China has left wives without husbands, children without fathers. Temujin is one of these children, impoverished by the heavy tribute China has punished them with, in danger of forgetting what a Mongol stands for. Worse, Temujin's the subject ofâŚ
I started a serious study of world history in the early 2000s when the United States-led wave of globalization reshaped the world order. The topic of Russia in world history became especially important under the Vladimir Putin Presidency. Since the 2010s, Russia has made a concerted attempt to revitalize Soviet-era links with countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, many of which are former colonies of Europe. Putin's administration is promoting the geopolitics of a "New World Order," a paradigm they believe will challenge global Western dominance. If we are to craft a coherent Western response and a strong foreign policy, we must understand Russian outreach and relationships in the world.
I love this book because John Darwin takes the history of empires very seriously.
He argues that the present world is the legacy of the great empires that came into existence after the fall of Tamerlane in 1405. He was the last powerful Eurasian ruler who followed in the footsteps of Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. This allowed Asian and European empires such as the Romanovs, Ottomans, the Mughals, the Manchus, the British, the French, the Nazis, and the Soviets to build their empires in space that yoked together Asia and Europe in shared imperial ambitions.
This is an accessible and beautifully written introduction to world history that is well worth your time and effort. It is a great book for a serious book club.
Tamerlane, the Ottomans, the Mughals, the Manchus, the British, the Soviets, the Japanese and the Nazis.
All built empires they hoped would last forever: all were destined to fail. But, as John Darwin shows in his magnificent book, their empire building created the world we know today.
From the death of Tamerlane in 1405, last of the 'world conquerors', to the rise and fall of European empires, and from America's growing colonial presence to the resurgence of India and China as global economic powers, After Tamerlane provides a wonderfully intriguing perspective on the past, present and future of empires.
As a child, I
have read many of Jin Yongâs wuxia novels and watched all the
big- and small-screen adaptations growing up. Those stories are in my DNA. Jin
Yong is hailed as âChinaâs Tolkienâ and is a legendary wuxia fiction icon.Â
A Hero Born is a translated first
volume (of four) of Legends of the Condor
Heroes. It was a totally exhilarating reread
for me with its immersive plot and complex variety of imaginative martial techniques.
The fight scenes were cinematic, the background history compelling, and the
characterization of the lead couple most endearing.
Through
other rereads in recent years, I fell in love with wuxia fiction all over
again. Legends of the Condor Heroes
will always be a favorite of mine.
THE CHINESE "LORD OF THE RINGS" - NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.
THE SERIES EVERY CHINESE READER HAS BEEN ENJOYING FOR DECADES - 300 MILLION COPIES SOLD.
China: 1200 A.D.
The Song Empire has been invaded by its warlike Jurchen neighbours from the north. Half its territory and its historic capital lie in enemy hands; the peasants toil under the burden of the annual tribute demanded by the victors. Meanwhile, on the Mongolian steppe, a disparate nation of great warriors is about to be united by a warlord whose name will endure for eternity: Genghis Khan.
As a young woman I became fascinated by what contributes to our uniqueness as human beings. I was intrigued by historical influences, the development of personality, and how we frequently travel lifeâs lanes through a labyrinth of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Feminism, spirituality, psychology; I was absorbed by all three. Eventually I studied psychology. My working life was spent in a variety of roles, mainly supporting adults or young people to manage the challenges thrown at them by circumstance. Regarding my writing, I have always penned something i.e., poetry, songs, holiday journals. I progressed to short stories for adults, which were self-published under a pseudonym. âThistleâ is my first novel.
A controversial author who I discovered in my twenties; I lapped up his non-fictional work.
This book is an in-depth investigation into the dark side of the human psyche. Wilson explores the psychology and history of criminality and violence, concluding with how that is manifested in what was then his âpresent dayâ.
Although first published in 1984, nearly forty years on his work is still pertinent. For me that stimulates many questions. Having just pulled it from my bookshelf, I think it is time I read it again.
Wilson covers his subject with focused attention and easy-to-understand detail. He encourages the reader to think about human existence from many perspectives.Â
Colin Wilson tells the story of human violence from Peking Man to the Mafia - taking into account the calculated sadism of the Assyrians, the opportunism of the Greek pirates, the brutality that made Rome the ârazor king of the Mediterraneanâ, the mindless destruction of the Vandals, the mass slaughter of Genghis Khan, Tamurlane, Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler and more. Each age has a unique characteristic pattern of crime. In the past three centuries crime has changed and evolved until the sex killer and the mass murderer have become symbols of all that is worst about our civilization.âŚ
Robin Cherry is a Cleveland-raised, Hudson Valley-based author of Garlic: An Edible Biography and Catalog: An Illustrated History of Mail Order Shopping. When not zeroing in on the microhistory of unusual things, she writes about food, wine, and travel. Her fatherâs family hails from Moldova which may explain why two of the five books on this list are about, or include, chapters on, Moldova. The fact that two concern Mongolia is inexplicable as sheâs never been there. Her story on visiting Moldova was included in Lonely Planetâs 2016 Travel Anthology.
As a child, Irish author Stewart dreamed of riding a horse across Mongolia and this book is the fulfillment of his dream. In the heart of the book, Stewart travels 1,000-miles across the vast steppes of Mongolia on horseback. He encounters stunning scenery, a hilarious nomad wedding brawl, and âa vast medieval world of nomads apparently undisturbed since 1200.â This book is worth it just for my favorite exchange. While Stewart was watching the wrestling competition at Mongoliaâs annual Naadam Festival, he asked a fellow observer why the wrestlerâs jackets had âlong sleeves but an open front that left the chest bare.â âKeeps the women out,â he muttered. Turns out Mongolian women are fearsome wrestlers.Â
Vivid, hilarious, and compelling, this eagerly awaited book takes its place among the travel classics. It is a thrilling tale of adventure, a comic masterpiece, and an evocative portrait of a medieval land marooned in the modern world. Eight and a half centuries ago, under Genghis Khan, the Mongols burst forth from Central Asia in a series of spectacular conquests that took them from the Danube to the Yellow Sea. Their empire was seen as the final triumph of the nomadic "barbarians." In this remarkable book Stanley Stewart sets off on a pilgrimage across the old empire, from Istanbul toâŚ
Do we really need another book of world history? Yes, We needed this one.
Montefiore tells the story of human society through a number of carefully selected families and their relationships, thereby connecting the intimate with the geopolitical, trivia with statesman craft, family with empire.
The author is an excellent storyteller and a reliable witness. He comes across as someone you would want to share a cognac with by the fireplace. Naturally, he tells stories that had to be left out of the book.Â
THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author - the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family.
We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, PahlavisâŚ
I am a Professor Emeritus of Classical and Byzantine History, and I was fascinated by Attila and the Hun and Genghis Khan from early childhood when I decided that I would become a historian. I set out to write the history of the Eurasian nomads from their perspective, and so convey their neglected history to a wider readership.
This fast-paced, wide-ranging history of Genghis Khan and his successors is by an author with first-hand experience of living among the nomads of the Eurasian steppes.
This work is the best introduction for the general reader on the role of Genghis Khan as a conqueror and ruler as well as the impact of the Mongols on shaping the modern world.
The name Genghis Khan often conjures the image of a relentless, bloodthirsty barbarian on horseback leading a ruthless band of nomadic warriors in the looting of the civilized world. But the surprising truth is that Genghis Khan was a visionary leader whose conquests joined backward Europe with the flourishing cultures of Asia to trigger a global awakening, an unprecedented explosion of technologies, trade, and ideas. In Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford, the only Western scholar ever to be allowed into the Mongolsâ âGreat TabooââGenghis Khanâs homeland and forbidden burial siteâtracks the astonishing story ofâŚ
I am fascinated by how societies conduct war. Who is expected to fight, and how are they organized? How is technology developed, implemented, and improvised in the heat of battle? And, most importantly, how do its participants make sense of the carnage around them? History is replete with tales of savagery and courage, of honor and depravity. Perilously few of these have been formed into novels, leaving an incomplete and disjointed understanding of thousands of years of struggle. Many authors, including those listed here, paved the path for holistic depictions of historical battle fiction â my hope is to contribute tales from oft-neglected societies, beginning with Belisarius and the 6th-Century Roman Empire.
Conn Iggulden is no stranger to historical battle fiction. Like others on this list, at least a dozen other novels could have been selected in this spot. Yet, Lords of the Bow expresses a savage bleakness in Genghis Khanâs earliest campaigns against the Xi Xia and Jin that will linger in the mind of any reader.
Mr. Igguldenâs writing regarding the Battle of Badgerâs Mouth is incredible â not only for the complexities of the Mongol-Jin battle but equally due to Mr. Igguldenâs use of terrain and weather to raise tension. The battle is brief on the page, and overtaken by the extensive preparations of the Mongol and Jin armies immediately prior to combat, yet Badgerâs Mouth leaves a distinct impression in a vast and growing sea of military historical fiction.
The brand new novel from the No.1 bestselling author of Emperor, his series on Julius Caesar. The second in the bestselling new Conqueror series on Genghis Khan, it is a wonderful, epic story which Conn Iggulden brings brilliantly to life. The gathering of the tribes of the Mongols has been a long time in coming but finally, triumphantly, Temujin of the Wolves, Genghis Khan, is given the full accolade of the overall leader and their oaths. Now he can begin to meld all the previously warring people into one army, one nation. But the task Genghis has set himself andâŚ
I lived in Ethiopia for 7 years and arrived expecting to find a country beaten down by war and famine, I could not have been more wrong. Ethiopia covers a vast territory and is as deep in history and culture, while its myriad peoples speak over 80 different languages. It remains one of the most mysterious, misunderstood, and least visited countries on the planet, and a paradise for both physical and armchair travelers alike to explore one of the last great largely undiscovered places on earth. I continue to write articles for both national and international newspapers and magazines about Ethiopia and its many wonders.Â
What William Dalrymple is to India, Philip Marsden is to Ethiopia. They are both inspired travel writers and scholarly historians. What I particularly loved about The Barefoot Emperor was that it actually reads like a page-turning thriller. Central to the story is the towering figure of the Emperor Tewedros, a brilliant military commander, political reformer, and charismatic leader, who was both loved and loathed by the warring factions that made up his kingdom. His rise and fall compare with anything achieved by Julius Ceasar or Genghis Khan, and Marsden captures his incredible, true-life story with bravura writing that leaps off the page. He turns a searing searchlight onto one of the most forgotten episodes in African history and captures it all with a breathtaking sense of spirit of place.       Â
A fascinating narrative excursion into a bizarre episode in 19th century Ethiopian and British imperial history featuring a remote African despot and his monstrous European-built gun.
On one of Addis Ababa's main roundabouts today sits a huge recently installed mortar. This is a replica of 'Sevastopol', a 70-ton lump of ordnance commissioned by one of the most extraordinary leaders Africa has ever produced - King of Kings of Ethiopia, the Emperor Theodore. In 1867, as his kingdom collapsed around him, Theodore retreated to his mountain-top stronghold in Magdala. It took his army six months to haul 'Sevastopol' through the gaugesâŚ
Outdoors has always been a nourishing place for me, even when I edged into risky or dangerous places, especially solo. When I got rid of my car (for financial reasons), I found my options to reach outdoor adventures limited. Soon after, I began working in transportation, tourism, and recreation and sought ways for everyone to access outdoor recreational opportunities, regardless of their abilities or any limiting barriers. Slow travel is broadly inclusive, enabling anyone to benefit from outdoor experiences and their transformative potential. Slow travel helped me feel less alone, more connected, more balanced emotionally, healthier physically, and more creative; it revealed the path to Love.
I loved the voice and turns of phrase in this book. Signing up for the Mongolian Derby (a ten-day horse race on 25 different semi-wild ponies across 1000km of Mongolia) seemed like a lark for nineteen-year-old Prior-Palmer. Knowing at the outset she won the race kept me turning the page to discover how the hell someone who seemed more squirrel than human accomplished such a feat.
Some of my favorite parts were when she tuned into the ponies she rode and imagined what they had to say. I kept thinking her positivity, humor, care for the ponies, and willingness to embrace Mongolian culture and hospitality were the secret weapons to get her across the finish line.
"Think the next Educated or Wild. Palmerâs memoir of beating the odds to become a horse champion is an inspiring saga of perseveranceâand a classic underdog tale." âEntertainment Weekly
At the age of nineteen, Lara PriorâPalmer discovered a website devoted to âthe worldâs longest, toughest horse raceââan annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twentyâfive wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland. On a whim, she decided to enter the race. As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.
