Chinggis Khan

"This is also one of those biographies that’s very solid academically. Ruth Donnell recently retired from Kenyon University. She wrote Chinggis Khan: World Conqueror as part of the Library of World Biography . This series is primarily intended to be a supplemental series for world history classes. They are short biographies. This is only 119 pages, including the index and things like that. It’s a book you can assign and expect students to read in two weeks, which in a world history class is about all the time you’re going to have for the Mongol Empire. It’s accessible and it handles all of the things that you want it to, like the basic background about Mongolia, its ecology and geography, and also the origins of Chinggis Khan, his early life, how he becomes khan, and how he united Mongolia. Then there’s a nice section on the organization of the Empire and then chapters on his campaigns in China, in Central Asia and on his death. The final chapter looks at his legacy. It covers everything nicely—succinctly, but with enough depth that anyone who reads it will come away knowing a good bit of this history; more than just a service level. They’ll have a depth of knowledge. “He was the epitome of leadership” There are tons of biographies that are basically the same book with new analysis. The only difference is often how thick the volume is. Often what you find is that the book extends way beyond Chinggis. It repeats the same stuff over and over again with very little nuance or analysis. But this book has solid analysis, it raises questions and if you’re teaching a class and you want to use a book in the classroom, this is the one that I would strongly recommend. A little bit in the interpretation, just because Biran’s focus is more on the Islamic world. Dunnell is a specialist in the history of medieval China and her leanings are more that way. Some of the source material they emphasise varies a little bit. If you read both of them you’re going to get a tremendous education. They’re definitely not the same book and they both have their strengths."