A review by lassarina
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

4.0

A solid overview for those who aren't familiar with Genghis Khan beyond "he was a conquerer and mass murderer the Europeans feared" (which is about what I knew from high school world history.) I liked that it did not get bogged down in military tactics or exhaustive detailing of panoply; there's enough here to get started with more research if you wish, but not enough to drag down the story. The title is a little bit of a misnomer since Genghis Khan's death comes about halfway through the book and it then continues on to his sons and grandsons, but their exploits fall under "the making of the modern world" portion.

It was a difficult read at times because there were some very not-nice actions happening, as is often the case with warfare and the recounting of the deeds of warlords, but I don't think the book lingered on it in an exploitative way; more businesslike.

I really enjoyed this and am also quite annoyed at the failure of Western education to give any nuance, but that's not new.