Lamb Harold. The March of the Barbarians

The Literary Guild of America, 1940. — 407 р.Although first published in 1940 the book is surprisingly contemporary in the subject matter it covers. It is an account of four generations of Mongol leaders, from Genghis Khan, through his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. The book is arranged into a series of narratives, which are grouped dynastically and chronologically. It covers the span of the Thirteenth Century, and deals with the process by which the Mongols came to dominate Central Asia, then spreading outwards to come into contact with Europe, the Indian sub-continent, and China. I would imagine that most people in the west are largely oblivious of this period of history. However, it is formative because, from this timeline, modern Russia, Iran, and China eventually emerge. We can readily divide the book into four parts. The first deals with the ascendancy of Temujin, who we know as Genghis Khan. It was he who unified the Mongol nomads into what could be discerned as a Mongol nation. With a combination of brute force and cunning he unified the warring tribes of the Steppes into a force capable of reaching out beyond the Steppes. The expansion of Mongol influence was left to his sons - Juchi, Chagatai, Ogadai, and Tului. The other three parts of the book are devoted to each of their houses. The House of Juchi eventually becomes the Golden Horde under Batu and Birkai, and provides the basis upon which the Russian dynasties were formed. The House of Ogadai, in conjunction with the House of Chagatai, retained influence in the Mongol heartland. The House of Tului split into the House of Kubilai and the House of Hulagu. The House of Kubilai eventually formed the Yuan Dynasty in China, and the House of Hulagu eventually formed the Il Khans of Persia.