Genghis Khan

Emperor of All Men

By: Harold Lamb

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 7 hrs

Publisher's summary

In the early 13th century, a simple nomad chieftain managed to cobble together a powerful kingdom in the highlands of northern Asia, which was subsequently to challenge the greatest powers of the day. He was triumphant in all directions. This leader was Timujin, whose name meant "Iron Man". He became Genghis Khan, "Universal Ruler", the greatest conqueror ever known - a warrior feared from the British Isles to the tip of the Korean peninsula.

Known by many names, including "The Scourge of God", Genghis Khan sent his Mongol armies ranging over most of the Eurasian land mass. He first sent his hordes of cavalry crashing into China, then turned on the ancient Persian Shah before smashing the Muslim Caliphate. He left smoldering ruins and depopulated nations in his tracks. Instead of measuring his progress in miles, we measure it today by degrees of latitude and longitude.

The tough, barbaric Mongolians were welded into the finest, most highly disciplined force of mobile fighting men assembled up to that period. Mongol leadership, unlike those of other armies, was based strictly on merit. Incompetence was not tolerated among the Khan's generals. The lightning quick movements and encircling tactics of Mongol horsemen baffled their opponents time after time. In fact, under Genghis Khan, they were never defeated. At the Great Khan's death in 1227, there were hardly any worthy opponents left to fight anywhere in the world.

©2007 Audio Connoisseur (P)2007 Audio Connoisseur

mildly interesting but disappointing

This is not the kind of solid history I was expecting, and it is not so much about Genghis Khan himself as about the Mongols during his reign. When I bought the audio version I didn't realize that this book was written in 1927. As a result of its age, the writing style is somewhat archaic. It would still be tolerable to listen to if not for the reader's determination to dramatize every single sentence with overblown, sing-song diction.

Another problem is that there is no clear distinction in this book between documented historical fact and legends that have been recorded over time. I was never sure how much of this was sound history. Still I did listen through to the end because I knew nothing about the Mongols and so it was somewhat intriguing - in an annoying sort of way. I don't recommend this audio book unless you're desperate for an audio book about the Mongols under Genghis Khan and can't find anything else. I do think that reading the print version would be easier and less annoying than listening to this audio.

Run away from this book

I made it through twenty minutes and had to give up - nothing short of an overhaul can help this horrific nightmare. Pretentious is the kindest word to use for the reader - I wanted to swim with leaches five minutes into the reading, I don't know how I made it to twenty.

Requires a stronger stomach than mine

This was so graphic in its description of torture and other barbarities that I couldn't finish it. I know it reflects a barbarous time; I just couldn't deal with it.

Narration Killed It For Me

Listen to a sample before you buy this one. Maybe it was the triumphalist tone ("what a great man he was"), but the biggest killer for me was the narration. It is dulling and pompous. My husband (who's not a big reader) had read the more recent biography of Genghis Kahn (also available on Audible) and really enjoyed it. I should have tried that one. I am a big listener, but I couldn't get through this one due to the narration.

Narrator Pretentious

Perhaps I shouldn't review this book, since I haven't been able to bring myself to listen past the first quarter of the book. My husband read a biography of Genghis Khan a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I bought this one on the strength of that memory.

However the narrator's voice sounds so pretentious I just can't get past it. It invades the content of the book, coloring it so much - well, actually, now that I am writing this, perhaps I'm blaming the narrator when it might be the book that is so pretentious.

Whether is it totally the narrator's 'fault' or the book itself, this one is a tough listen. There's got to be a better version of this story out there somewhere.

Written in 1937 and it shows

The subject is interesting, but I found the book somewhat frustrating. I don't regret listening to it, but I wish I'd listened to a better account.

When I searched for more information on some people and events described, I found that some events described are in conflict with other, more reliable, sources. There is also an odd focus on every single person who may possibly have been a Christian in the Kahn's court, and I found it odd that the author put "thou" and "thine" and other archaic English into the words attributed to the Mongols. If they had spoken old or middle English, it would make sense to use their original words if they were understandable to modern readers, but since the Mongols did not speak English, the words have been translated (or invented), so why not use the same language, modern English, in which the rest of he book is written?

As for the performance, it was well paced, words were pronounced consistently and it was competent in all other ways, but some parts were read in a very pompous/portentous way that I found off-putting. I'm sure the reader did that because he was asked to, but it did make the performance less enjoyable for me.

Dreadfully Dull

There were many reasons that I finally gave up and set this book aside. There were far too many details to follow which bogged down the actual story. It is too difficult to keep track of which clans were which and what allegiances existed and when. I fully realize that the interplay between the clans and the changes in allegiance are intended to be the essence of the story...but the way it was done here just didn't capture it.

I was also very, very annoyed at the use of 'thee' and 'thine' in the statements of allegiance that many characters made to Khan. Top that with the fact that the narrator delivered them with an English accent and the whole effect was even messier.

This might be one of those books that I just plain have to read on paper.

Yuck

Did Ghengis Kahn and his cohorts really talk in Olde English? I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes, and even that short time was agony.