Posted by syednaqib on Jul 16, 2009 in
Books 
Continuing with my fascination with the great conquerors of the past, i read Tamerlane. Not really knowing what i would find, i was quite surprised when i found out what i did.
It turned out that what i hear about the West always trying to suppress the true story of Temur (as he should be known) has foundation. I discovered that he was not a mindless monster. He did not kill everyone. He was never defeated in battle (no easy feat). His name is not Tamerlane. He was not just a destroyer. But he was really something.
And to know what he was, you should read the book.
Tags: Books
Posted by syednaqib on Nov 15, 2008 in
Books 
Generally when the name Kublai Khan is mentioned, the picture that comes across is of a barbaric nomadic leader of the Mongols who killed mercilessly to conquer the world, or so is the picture that is portrayed to us by the the various sources that we may have come to view or read.
Enter the author John Man with his book. We’ll find from his writing that he tried to give a picture that was whole about Kublai by describing the various aspects of his life and his rise to power. His style of writing is quite relaxed and enjoyable as he incorporates his narration with his own travel experience while doing research. And the author’s way of explaining other facts of history that may seem unrelated at first is quite fascinating.
Kublai was a leader who’s similar to his grandfather Genghis and yet is different in so many ways. As the book describes it, China today owes a lot of it’s geographic enormity to Kublai. Kublai was the emperor who conquered and consolidated the various territories that now we call China, and established the Yuan dynasty. He knows talent when he sees one, and was not afraid to have people smarter than him around to assist in managing the empire. And as the Mongol rule stretched as far as to eastern Europe and the Middle East, he has had people from various origins holding important posts under him; Arabs holding high ranking military and administrative positions, Chinese advisers, and possibly European governors.
For those who are captivated by history and interested to know some of the events that shaped the world, the book is a good read. I can safely say that when you’ve finished reading the last page, you will realize that you didn’t actually know a lot of things that you thought you knew about the whole Mongol episode.
