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Osprey
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquests 1190-1400
By Stephen Turnbull
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I first knew Stephen way back when he was a local teacher, and I still have memories of him running round a Sealed Knot battle re-enactment wearing a samurai helmet and with a plastic rapier shoved through a sash. How time have change! Now Stephen is reknowned as a Worldwide authority on Oriental and Eastern European warfare. He is also a prolific author, to the extent that he was described to me as “….the Ian Knight of Oriental warfare”, just the other week.
His latest release, in the Osprey library, is headlined Genghis Khan, but this is a bit of a misnomer, as this volume simply does not have enough pages to cover the history of this great general in anything but the sparsest detail. And that is just what it does, whilst also attempting to cover the whole range of the Mongol expansion and decline of which the Great Khan’s reign is just a part.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. As usual with Stephen’s work it is a damn good read, and I learned things that I was either not aware of or had only come across in passing. For example the Mongol campaigns in the Indo China peninsular against the Vietnamese, Javaneses and Khmer was totally knew to me, and totally fascinating, but there simply was not enough detail to satisfy my curiosity.
The reader is directed to a number of other of Stephen’s Osprey publications, and a very small selection of other writer’s works that may help fill out the narrative of this work, but I would really hoped to see a more extensive list of sources that gave full details of the Mongol warriors and their campaigns, weapons and culture. Still I am pretty sure that Stephen will be working on filling that particular gap in the market some time soon ( Late November apparently).
For those seeking a general history of the Mongols, and their impact on the medieval World this book represents excellent value for money, however if you are looking for detailed accounts of the Mongols and their campaigns, be prepared to do some follow on reading.
Format: Softback; 96 pages including extensive black and white and colour pictures
ISBN: 1-84176-523-6
Price: £9.99/ $14.99Please remember to mention Wargames Forum when contacting traders!
