Book review - Genghis Khan, Jack Weatherford
★★★★★
Let’s start this review with a caveat: even though I have a history degree under my belt, before reading this book I didn’t know much about Genghis Khan (though I did know quite a bit more about the Mongol successor states, especially Yuan-dynasty China). A lot of my preconceptions (etymologically, as in prior knowledge, and also literally, as in false beliefs) stemmed from generic narratives about barbarian, nomadic, conquering empires that, wave after wave (though only a few, historically), battered against the walls of civilization. In this regard, the Mongols were in the same league as the Huns, the Avars, the Arabs, the Turks, or the Zulus. Some of these peoples managed to build fleeting empires after much bloodletting and destruction, but probably, on average, they created negative expected value. Reading Weatherford’s book has significantly updated my beliefs in this regard, shifting me toward a much more positive evaluation of the Mongols.
The Author
Discussing the book’s writer is non-trivial, as Jack Weatherford doesn’t fit the mold of a conventional academic historian. He has spent many years among tribal peoples in situ, particularly in Mongolia, which adds a personal touch and some interesting real-life anecdotes to the volume’s narrative. Besides, he is a genuinely skilled writer (something that is all too rare in academia). The cover contains a short sentence from a Washington Post review that rings particularly true to me: “Reads like the Iliad… Part travelogue, part epic narrative.”
The Book
A quick note about the title: I referred to it above as Genghis Khan, but the full title is actually (and very significantly) Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. This more accurately reflects its contents.
After an introduction that briefly explores the obliteration of Genghis Khan’s memory by the Soviet puppet-masters of satellite Mongolia until the 1990s, as well as the heroic efforts of native scholars to maintain the memory and academic study of Mongolian history (serendipitously boosted by the discovery, in the 1920s, of the manuscript of the Secret History of the Mongols), the book proper begins.
Its ten chapters are organized into three parts, though personally, I would have structured it differently. The first five chapters tell the story of Genghis Khan’s rise to power, from an insignificant and impoverished steppe dweller to a world conqueror. Chapters 6 to 8 continue the narrative through the successors of Temujin, culminating with Kublai Khan—of Marco Polo fame—describing the successive waves of conquest that followed the death of the first Great Khan. Finally, chapters 9 and 10 shift focus to the peaceful, commercial, and cultural achievements of the Pax Mongolica, as well as the ultimate continuities and legacy of the Mongol Empire, both in the global imagination and among its descendants.
Main Intellectual Highlights
Beyond episodic historical events and anecdotes, the central thesis of this book—one that it pursues relentlessly—is to reframe the Mongols not as mere barbarian plunderers but as visionary empire-builders. Weatherford seeks to dismantle our deeply ingrained biases against them and instead portrays them as the architects of a cosmopolitan empire that rejected aristocratic privilege, transcended conventional boundaries, and eschewed religious and racial persecution—at a time when such things were the common currency of nearly every other civilization.
According to Weatherford, the Mongols helped lay the foundations for the modern world in many of its most positive aspects, most notably through the interconnection and cultural exchange they facilitated between China, the Middle East, and Europe—three worlds that, prior to the Mongol conquests, had functioned largely as sealed compartments with minimal interaction.
Let’s summarize some of the key aspects of Mongol rule that the author highlights:
1. The Mongols as Innovators in Governance and Law
Weatherford argues that Genghis Khan created a system of governance that was more meritocratic and flexible than those of his rivals.
The Yassa (legal code) promoted rule of law, religious tolerance, and a kind of proto-international order.
The Mongols rejected hereditary aristocracy (at least at the start), often promoting skilled individuals regardless of background.
2. The Economic and Commercial Revolution Under the Mongols
Weatherford stresses their direct role in fostering commerce.
The Mongols expanded and protected the Silk Road, making long-distance trade safer and incentivizing cultural exchange.
He suggests that their policies on free trade, passports (paiza), and courier systems (Yam) helped lay the foundations for global commerce.
3. Mongol Religious Tolerance & Multiethnic Rule
Unlike many empires of their time, they actively recruited and protected Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and Daoist scholars.
Weatherford argues that the Mongols didn’t try to impose their own shamanistic beliefs on subject peoples, which made them more successful rulers.
4. Their Impact on Europe & the Renaissance
Weatherford links Mongol expansion to European transformation, suggesting that contact with Mongol networks spurred technological and intellectual exchanges.
This includes the spread of gunpowder, printing, medical knowledge, and new political ideas that later contributed to the Renaissance.
As a non-expert, I cannot be certain that the author isn’t seeing the Mongolian conquerors through rose-tinted glasses. Still, the arguments and evidence he presents are at least partially convincing and require us to reevaluate our perspective.
Conclusion
Jack Weatherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World is a compelling and well-written reassessment of the Mongols, challenging deep-seated perceptions of them as mere destroyers. Instead, it presents them as architects of a dynamic, meritocratic empire that fostered trade, cultural exchange, and religious tolerance on an unprecedented scale.
While the book’s thesis is persuasive—showing how Mongol policies helped shape the early modern world—one must wonder whether Weatherford is sometimes too generous in his depiction, downplaying the violence and devastation of their conquests. Still, his arguments are well-supported, and the book is an engaging read that forces us to reconsider the legacy of Genghis Khan beyond the battlefield.
For those unfamiliar with Mongol history or accustomed to seeing them solely through the lens of destruction, this book serves as an excellent and thought-provoking corrective.
