Books
by John Man
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Genghis Khan - Life, Death and Resurrection |
Everyone has heard of Genghis Khan but this new biography, supported by firsthand knowledge of Mongolia, highlights his complicated nature and discusses not only his dream of world domination leading to the largest empire ever known, but how a horrific mass-murderer and cold-blooded conqueror of millions could be revered, in Mongolia, as the father of his country, the founder of a dynasty, a spirit to be worshipped and a positive force for peace and reconciliation.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 42 October 2007) |
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Gobi, Tracking the Desert |
John Man has become more and more obsessed with Mongolia, increasingly devoting his life to travel and historical research in that country. Here he finds several different 'Gobi deserts', and ranges from dinosaurs and everything pertaining to them and the riddle of their disappearance, through discussion of the various geological formations many millions of years old, up to the present with its motorbikes, its increasing pursuit of modernity threatening the survival of an unspoiled culture.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 43 December 2007) |
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Kublai Khan |
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, inherited history's largest land empire, and doubled it. Kublai, fulfilling his grandfather's dream of ensuring Mongol supremacy in all Central Asia and much of Europe, only became Khan by a quirk of fate. Drawing on his own travels and deep love for Mongolia, the author manages to combine ancient history with that of the present day and to rescue the real Kublai Khan from the myth created in Coleridge's poem.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 43 December 2007) |
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