An epic account of how a new world order under Tamerlane was born out of the decline of the Mongol Empire By the mid-fourteenth century, the world empire founded by Genghis Khan was in crisis. The Mongol Ilkhanate had ended in Iran and Iraq, China’s Mongol rulers were threatened by the native Ming, and the Golden Horde and the Central Asian Mongols were prey to internal discord. Into this void moved the warlord Tamerlane, the last major conqueror to emerge from Inner Asia. In this authoritative account, Peter Jackson traces Tamerlane’s rise to power against the backdrop of the decline of Mongol rule. Jackson argues that Tamerlane, a keen exponent of Mongol custom and tradition, operated in Genghis Khan’s shadow and took care to draw parallels between himself and his great precursor. But, as a Muslim, Tamerlane drew on Islamic traditions, and his waging of wars in the name of jihad, whether sincere or not, had a more powerful impact than those of any Muslim Mongol ruler before him.

A narrative history of the Mongol Empire from the birth of Genghis Khan c.1167 to the demise of the Golden Horde in 1510, the effective end of the Mongol Empire.

A very broad and complete coverage of the Mongolian culture and its military campaigns. The book focuses on the four great Mongol leaders: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulego and Tamerlane.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The startling true history of how one extraordinary man from a remote corner of the world created an empire that led the world into the modern age—by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan. The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed feudal systems of aristocratic privilege. From the story of his rise through the tribal culture to the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed, this brilliant work of revisionist history is nothing less than the epic story of how the modern world was made.

The great nomad conqueror Tamerlane rose to power in 1370 in the ruins of the Mongol Empire and led his armies of conquest from Russia to India, from Turkestan to Anatolia. In this, the first full study of an extraordinary person, Beatrice Forbes Manz examines Tamerlane as the founder of a nomad conquest dynasty and as a supremely talented individual, raising many current questions about the mechanisms of state formation, the dynamics of tribal politics, and the relations of tribes to central leadership.

As a soldier and general, statesman and empire-builder, Genghis Khan is an almost legendary figure. His remarkable achievements and his ruthless methods have given rise to a sinister reputation. As Chris Peers shows, in this concise and authoritative study, he possessed exceptional gifts as a leader and manager of men - he ranks among the greatest military commanders - but he can only be properly understood in terms of the Mongol society and traditions he was born into. So the military and cultural background of the Mongols, and the nature of steppe societies and their armies, are major themes of his book. He looks in detail at the military skills, tactics and ethos of the Mongol soldiers, and at the advantages and disadvantages they had in combat with the soldiers of more settled societies. His book offers a fascinating fresh perspective on Genghis Khan the man and on the armies he led.