Jack Weatherford

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed feudal systems of aristocratic privilege. From the story of his rise through the tribal culture to the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed, this brilliant work of revisionist history is nothing less than the epic story of how the modern world was made.

"Astonishing...Brings to life a thriving – and rather civilized – empire" - The Telegraph "sparkles with energy, insight and passion... difficult to put down." Nicholas Morton, BBC History Magazine Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of dynastic rivalry and innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life. Kublai Khan is one of history’s most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world’s largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire. By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything. A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.

Eta zakhvatyvajuschaja kniga Dzheka Uezerforda, uchenogo-antropologa i eksperta po kulture plemennykh narodov, kotoryj bolee 30 let izuchaet istoriju Mongolii, stala mirovym bestsellerom i vyderzhala mnozhestvo pereizdanij. Izuchiv vse izvestnye istochniki i samostojatelno sovershiv neverojatnoe puteshestvie po sledam Velikogo khana, Uezerford sobral unikalnye materialy, kotorye stali osnovoj uvlekatelnogo povestvovanija ob odnoj iz samykh protivorechivykh, no neizmenno kultovykh i zagadochnykh figur, izmenivshikh mir."V 1997 godu ja nachal issledovanija "Sokrovennogo skazanija mongolov", legend i istorij, sobrannykh potomkami o Chingiskhane. Iznachalno moej zadachej bylo izuchit vse epizody, posvjaschennye emu, i osobenno te mesta, gde upominalis sobytija, proiskhodivshie v Mongolii i po vsemu Kitaju i Tsentralnoj Azii. To, chto ja obnaruzhil, bylo stol interesnym, chto vdokhnovilo menja na sozdanie etoj knigi. Dumaju, chto my nedootsenivaem dukhovnoe nasledie Velikogo khana i unikalnost podkhoda ko mnogim voprosam, kotorye sdelali uspeshnym ego imperskij proekt" (Dzhek Uezerford).

Z kintsja dvadtsjatogo stolittja kolumbijskij antropolog Dzhek Vezerford vivchaje i publikuje materiali z kulturi ta istoriji Mongoliji. Za tse vin udostojenij dvokh vischikh natsionalnikh nagorod tsijeji krajini - ordenu Poljarnoji Zirki ta ordenu Chingiskhana. Avtor - jedinij zakhidnij uchenij, jakomu mongolskij urjad dozvoliv zaglibitis u natsionalnu temu-tabu i dopustiv do sekretnogo mistsja pokhovannja Chingiskhana.Velikij khan Mongolskoji imperiji vidkrijetsja dlja vas iz neochikuvanoji storoni - ne jak nevblagannij, krovozherlivij varvar, jakij ocholjuvav kinni zagoni vojiniv-kochivnikiv pid chas zagarbnitskikh nabigiv, a jak innovatsijnij lider ta dalekogljadnij pravitel.Adzhe Chingiskhan zokrema:* staviv silu zakonu vische vid vlasnoji vladi;* skasuvav torturi;* zaokhochuvav religijnu svobodu;* sprovokuvav bezpretsedentnij vibukh u rozvitku tekhnologij ta torgivli.Prigolomshliva pratsja Dzheka Vezerforda sponukaje chitachiv peregljanuti doteperishni ujavlennja pro mongolskogo imperatora i jogo rol u protsesi stvorennja suchasnogo svitu.PerekladachIgor Voznjak

"Astonishing...Brings to life a thriving – and rather civilized – empire" - The Telegraph"sparkles with energy, insight and passion... difficult to put down." Nicholas Morton, BBC History MagazineControl the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of dynastic rivalry and innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life. Kublai Khan is one of history’s most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world’s largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire. By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything. A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.

A gripping tale of naval warfare, dynastic rivalry, and technical innovation, by the author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. "Astonishing...Brings to life a thriving - and rather civilized - empire" - The Telegraph Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of naval warfare, dynastic rivalry, and technical innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life. Kublai Khan is one of history's most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world's largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire. By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything. A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.

Antropologi Jack Weatherfordin vuonna 2004 ilmestynyt Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World on lukukokemus, joka askarruttaa. Kuinka hän voi väittää, että mongolivaltakunnan luonut ja miltei koko maailman valloittanut, usein barbaarina pidetty kaani olikin renessanssin airut, uskonnonvapauden edelläkävijä ja modernin maailman syntyä ennakoiva esitaistelija?Kirjassaan Weatherford sanoutuu irti perinteisistä käsityksistä modernin maailman synnystä ja eurooppalaisuuden merkityksestä maailman kulttuuriperinnölle. Weatherfordin esittämä näkemys on, että muutos kohti modernia maailmaa alkoi keskiajalla juuri mongolien vaikutuksesta.Esipuheen ja jälkisanat on kirjoittanut filosofian tohtori ja folkloristiikan dosentti Lauri Harvilahti. Hänen erikoisaloihinsa kuuluu suullisen ja kirjallisen kertomarunouden tutkimus, kulttuuri-identiteetin kysymykset, arkistotutkimus ja kulttuuritieteiden tutkimushistoria. Tätä nykyä Harvilahti toimii vapaana tutkijana työsarkanaan itäisen Euraasian suulliset eepokset sekä mongolien ja turkkilaiskansojen varhaiset kirjalliset muistomerkit.

A landmark biography by the New York Times bestselling author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World that reveals how Genghis harnessed the power of religion to rule the largest empire the world has ever known. Throughout history the world's greatest conquerors have made their mark not just on the battlefield, but in the societies they have transformed. Genghis Khan conquered by arms and bravery, but he ruled by commerce and religion. He created the world's greatest trading network and drastically lowered taxes for merchants, but he knew that if his empire was going to last, he would need something stronger and more binding than trade. He needed religion. And so, unlike the Christian, Taoist and Muslim conquerors who came before him, he gave his subjects freedom of religion. Genghis lived in the 13th century, but he struggled with many of the same problems we face today: How should one balance religious freedom with the need to reign in fanatics? Can one compel rival religions - driven by deep seated hatred--to live together in peace? A celebrated anthropologist whose bestselling Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World radically transformed our understanding of the Mongols and their legacy, Jack Weatherford has spent eighteen years exploring areas of Mongolia closed until the fall of the Soviet Union and researching The Secret History of the Mongols, an astonishing document written in code that was only recently discovered. He pored through archives and found groundbreaking evidence of Genghis's influence on the founding fathers and his essential impact on Thomas Jefferson. Genghis Khan and the Quest for God is a masterpiece of erudition and insight, his most personal and resonant work.

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut their story from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving only a hint of a father's legacy for his daughters. The queens of the Silk Route turned their father's conquests into the world's first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. Outlandish stories of these powerful queens trickled out of the Empire, shocking the citizens of Europe and and the Islamic world. After Genghis Khan's death in 1227, conflicts erupted between his daughters and his daughters-in-law; what began as a war between powerful women soon became a war against women in power as brother turned against sister and son against mother. At the end of this epic struggle, the dynasty of the Mongol queens had seemingly been extinguished forever, as even their names were erased from the historical record. Two centuries later, one of the most unusual and important warrior queens of history--Queen Mandhuhai--arose to avenge the wrongs, rescue the tattered shreds of the Mongol Empire, and restore order to a shattered world. She led her soldiers through victory after victory. In her thirties she married a seventeen-year-old prince, and she bore eight children in the midst of a career spent fighting the Ming Dynasty of China on one side and a series of Muslim warlords on the other. Her unprecedented success on the battlefield provoked the Chinese into the most frantic and expensive phase of wall building in history. Charging into battle even while pregnant, she fought to reassemble the Mongol Nation of Genghis Khan and to preserve it for her own children to rule in peace. Despite their mystery and the efforts to erase them from our collective memory, the deeds of these Mongol queens inspired great artists from Chaucer and Milton to Goethe and Puccini. And so their stories live on today. With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Jack Weatherford restores the queens' missing chapter to the annals of history. From the Hardcover edition.

An utterly compelling story of how the cultural, social, and political practices of Native Americans transformed the way life is lived throughout the world, with a new introduction by the author "As entertaining as it is thoughtful . . . Few contemporary writers have Weatherford's talent for making the deep sweep of history seem vital and immediate."--The Washington Post After 500 years, the world's huge debt to the wisdom of the Native Americans has finally been explored in all its vivid drama by anthropologist Jack Weatherford. He traces the crucial contributions made by the Native Americans to our federal system of government, our democratic institutions, modern medicine, agriculture, architecture, and ecology, and in this astonishing, ground-breaking book takes a giant step toward recovering a true American history.

Eta zakhvatyvajuschaja kniga Dzheka Uezerforda, uchenogo-antropologa i eksperta po kulture plemennykh narodov, kotoryj bolee 30 let izuchaet istoriju Mongolii, stala mirovym bestsellerom i vyderzhala mnozhestvo pereizdanij. Izuchiv vse izvestnye istochniki i samostojatelno sovershiv neverojatnoe puteshestvie po sledam Velikogo khana, Uezerford sobral unikalnye materialy, kotorye stali osnovoj uvlekatelnogo povestvovanija ob odnoj iz samykh protivorechivykh, no neizmenno kultovykh i zagadochnykh figur, izmenivshikh mir. "V 1997 godu ja nachal issledovanija "Sokrovennogo skazanija mongolov", legend i istorij, sobrannykh potomkami o Chingiskhane. Iznachalno moej zadachej bylo izuchit vse epizody, posvjaschennye emu, i osobenno te mesta, gde upominalis sobytija, proiskhodivshie v Mongolii i po vsemu Kitaju i Tsentralnoj Azii. To, chto ja obnaruzhil, bylo stol interesnym, chto vdokhnovilo menja na sozdanie etoj knigi. Dumaju, chto my nedootsenivaem dukhovnoe nasledie Velikogo khana i unikalnost podkhoda ko mnogim voprosam, kotorye sdelali uspeshnym ego imperskij proekt".

In his most widely appealing book yet, one of today's leading authors of popular anthropology looks at the intriguing history and peculiar nature of money, tracing our relationship with it from the time when primitive men exchanged cowrie shells to the imminent arrival of the all-purpose electronic cash card. 320 pp. Author tour. National radio publicity. 25,000 print. From the Hardcover edition.