there's a very interesting historical novel about the mongols that describes a battle that led to the installation of kublai khan in china. it was written by an historian and the description of the battle is gripping. Conn iggulden. i can't recall which book it is described in but it might have been empire of silver of bones of the hills
he also wrote a series of books about kublai khan which i haven't read but thinking abut it now maybe i will.
I'm not sure that kubblia was so dreadfully ruthless. - well no more so than necessary to keep a check on a nation (not all of modern china) that sort of objected to him being there. he was actually far more inclined to enjoy study and intellectual pursuits. he was bought up on philosophies and languages.
In all the stories about chinggis few from the west like to mention some interesting detail:
he was fascinated by or at least tolerant of different religions and ways of thinking his "court" included zoroastrians, muslims, buddhist and he willingly accepted envoys from around the world but he was ruthless if he was crossed. there is a story of an attempt by some christian visitors to double cross him. they met a not unexpected fate and it may have spurred the desire to conquer the west.
he expected obedience but many of the laws were about commitment to each other and health - necessary if you wanted to survive in that climate
he set up a system of communication across thousands of kilometres that was extraordinary given the terrain and the limitations
he has to have been a quite extraordinary leader. he kept together a vast empire, conquered lands and sustained a tribal collective. you can't do that by brutality alone.
i find him completely fascinating.
interesting fact
the mongolians used to wrestle fully clothed until a woman entered the competition and beat all the men. it was only afterwards they worked out it was a woman and from then on competitions were held naked from the waist up. i managed to impress a mongolian with this irrelevant fact around 20 years ago. it stuck in my head!!!
