"The Mongol Empire was the . . . [largest] land empire the world has ever seen. At its height it was twice the size of its Roman equivalent. For a . . . century and a half it commanded a population of 100 million people, while the rule of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan marched undefeated from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. [The author] argues that the Mongols were not only subjugators who swept all before them but one of the great organizing forces of world history. His book traces the rise of the Great Khan in 1206 to the dissolution of the empire in 1368 by the Ming Dynasty. He discusses the unification of the Turko-Mongol tribes under Chinggis' leadership; the establishment of an . . . imperium whose Pax Mongolica held mastery over the Central Asian steppes; . . . policies of religious pluralism; and the . . . legacy of the Toluid Empire of Yuan China and Ilkhanate Iran"--Back cover.
