Jack Weatherford

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.

Mongolská armáda vedená Džingischánom si za dvadsaťpäť rokov podmanila viac území a národov ako Rimania za štyristo rokov. V takmer každej krajine, ktorú Mongoli dobyli, nastal bezprecedentný vzostup kultúrnej komunikácie, rozšíril sa obchod a civilizácia prekvitala. Táto brilantná revízia dejín opisuje príbeh vzostupu, kmeňovú kultúru aj rozmach civilizácie, ktorý spustila Mongolská ríša. Je viac ako epickým príbehom o tom, ako vznikal súčasný svet. Autor skúma Džingischánov odkaz a vplyv; prisudzuje mnohé aspekty renesancie – napríklad rozšírenie využívania papiera a tlače, kompasu, pušného prachu a hudobných nástrojov (konkrétne huslí) – vplyvu obchodu, ktorý umožnil Džingischán a Mongolská ríša. Tvrdí, že európska renesancia nebola znovuzrodením Grécka a Ríma, ale konceptov Mongolskej ríše. Tá bola podľa neho impulzom pre európsky vek zámorských objavov. O dve storočia neskôr sa Európania snažili obnoviť lukratívny globálny obchod, ktorý sa po páde Mongolskej ríše vytratil.

Mongolská armáda vedená Džingischánom si za dvadsaťpäť rokov podmanila viac území a národov ako Rimania za štyristo rokov. V takmer každej krajine, ktorú Mongoli dobyli, nastal bezprecedentný vzostup kultúrnej komunikácie, rozšíril sa obchod a civilizácia prekvitala. Táto brilantná revízia dejín opisuje príbeh vzostupu, kmeňovú kultúru aj rozmach civilizácie, ktorý spustila Mongolská ríša. Je viac ako epickým príbehom o tom, ako vznikal súčasný svet. Autor skúma Džingischánov odkaz a vplyv; prisudzuje mnohé aspekty renesancie – napríklad rozšírenie využívania papiera a tlače, kompasu, pušného prachu a hudobných nástrojov (konkrétne huslí) – vplyvu obchodu, ktorý umožnil Džingischán a Mongolská ríša. Tvrdí, že európska renesancia nebola znovuzrodením Grécka a Ríma, ale konceptov Mongolskej ríše. Tá bola podľa neho impulzom pre európsky vek zámorských objavov. O dve storočia neskôr sa Európania snažili obnoviť lukratívny globálny obchod, ktorý sa po páde Mongolskej ríše vytratil.

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 Worldradically 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.