Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

By: Jack Weatherford

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford

Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.

Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed feudal systems of aristocratic privilege. From the story of his rise through the tribal culture to the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed, this brilliant work of revisionist history is nothing less than the epic story of how the modern world was made.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Listen to An Interview with Author Jack Weatherford.

©2005 Jack Weatherford (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"With appreciative descriptions of the sometimes tender tyrant, this chronicle supplies just enough personal and world history to satisfy any reader." ( Publishers Weekly)

"There is very little time for reading in my new job. But of the few books I've read, my favourite is Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. It's a fascinating book portraying Genghis Khan in a totally new light. It shows that he was a great secular leader, among other things." (Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India)

"Weatherford's admiration for Genghis and his firsthand knowledge of many of the sites important in Mongol history give this text an immediacy and a visual quality that are enhanced by Davis’s presentation. When the narrative begins to lag in its final hour or two as it moves farther from the twelfth century, Davis's crisp pace maintains the listener’s interest to the end. An informative and provocative work of popular history." ( AudioFile)

Very good… well worth the time it takes.

Very informative and interesting. Lengthy… but we’ll worth the time.

I previously had no idea of the great significance and lasting impact of Genghis Khan and his empire to history and to today’s world.

Ruthless leader

Just like any other conqueror he was ruthless, ambitious and powerful leader. Personally I like his grandson he made more humanitarian progress than his grandfather.

Very informative

I listen to this audiobook on a whim because I knew very little about Genghis Khan. It was an absolutely fascinating story, and completely changed my perspective on him.

Outstanding

It’s a must listen and masterfully shares the story of one of greatest visionary. I’m blown away and will re-listen this audible for years to come. Thank you Jack for your research and sharing it with the world!

Engaging and balanced

This was a fact based and even handed history that was both accessible and relevant. It has a wide perspective for a global phenomenon. It both demystified the Khans and showed how their contributions of paper, money, postal service and religious tolerance shaped our modern world.

fascinating

English is my second language and it was well written and read. I never knew hoe big the Mongol influence was on the world we know today. And the way he dealt with his captives regarding religion and culture is very interesting.

fascinating history

fascinating historical review that ties together world developments. highly recommended. listen now. 15 words. two more words.

Chills

I listen to audiobooks commuting to and from work and until Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World never had listened to one that actually kept me in the car for longer than necessary. I'd be idling for extended time while it got later and later listening to this incredible work.

The narration is great and the story is spellbinding. I bought the book on a whim and have no regrets.

The first half is much better than the second half, but I enjoyed the story immensely from start to finish and highly recommend.

Great Book

The book was well researched and thorough and the reader was very good. With that said you can sense that the writer had a little bias (I call it a man-crush) on Gengis Kahn and attributed the Mongol Empire as having developing the modern world short of landing on the moon and the invention of the computer. The real truth is that the Mongols contributed nothing but terror to the people of the dark ages and enslaved the masons, astrologist, scientists and craftsman of races with superior intellect (Chinese, Persians, Eastern Europeans, etc) and attributed their inventions and contributions to society to the Mongols who ruled (or payed tribute to) the lands by threat of death. The real truth is that if 30 million innocent citizens were not attacked, these contributions would have occurred naturally.

It sounds like I'm attacking the author, but I'm not. I highly recommend this book. He did a great job, it is just readily apparent he had a skewed view of what he calls "The great leader" and even visited his grave to pay homage and shed some tears (in his own words). Gengis Kahn was no more than murderous thug who invented perhaps the first ponzi scheme: He would take a handfull of warriors to a village and pillage all of their goods and tell the males to join his clan or die. Then he would have more warriors to attack the next larger village until he had an army of hundreds of thousands where he attacked major cities. Once his army got too large to manage, his successors lost hold and the scheme fell apart.

If you like history - this is excellent

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have always wanted to know more about this man, his people, and his impact on world history. The author does and excellent job of helping to make sense out of how a band of nomads went on to conquer much of the known world and shape the course of world history. Well written and wonderfully narrated.