Tamerlane

Conqueror of the Earth

By: Harold Lamb

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Sweeping out of Central Asia in the last half of the 14th century came the Tatar armies of Timur, known as Tamerlane in the West, and one of history's supremely gifted military leaders.

With consummate skill, Tamerlane cobbled together a kingdom from the tattered leftovers of various Mongol fiefdoms. He then enlarged that fiefdom into a large and menacing power in the center of Asia. But when the mighty Mongolian empire decided to crush out this upstart rival, it was too late.

Tamerlane not only defeats the Mongols, but goes on to vanquish the Persians, the Indians and the mighty Ottoman Turks in successive wars. It was one of the most astounding developments imaginable, doubly so because of its swiftness and decisiveness. And at the time of his death in 1405, Tamerlane was on his way to invade and subdue China with an army of 200,000.

Ruling from his fabulous capital of Samarkand, he was a fascinating, controversial, and contradictory tyrant. He was both a destroyer and a builder, a barbarian and a cultured gentleman. He was ostensibly Muslim, but was the scourge of Muslim states, who vilify him to this day. The Tatar empire at his death approached the dimensions of the earlier Khans of Mongolia, yet it melted away immediately after his passing.

In yet another superb historical work, Harold Lamb brings the mighty Tatar leader to vivid life and shows how this ruthless commander used his superior intellect and magnetic leadership to overcome one obstacle after another. Tamerlane was truly one of the most remarkable personalities ever to emerge from the steppes of Central Asia.

©2007 Audio Connoisseur (P)2007 Audio Connoisseur

Narrator was a bit dry, slightly monotone.

I preferred the end bits where Lamb explains his sources, would reccomend for hardcore historophiles, or students interested in central Asian history and or anthropology.

History or historical novel?

This book is a cross between a history and a historical novel and to my mind doesn't fully succeed as either. Tamerlane is a fascinating figure, however, and there seems to be a shortage of modern treatments of his life and times (this one is from 1955).

Exploring an ignored time and region in history

Harold Lamb is a master who brings characters in history to life. While I preferred "Hannibal: One Man Against Rome", I found this to be an excellent book. History too often seems to pretend that central Asia doesn't exist and that the Romans were the only empire builders worth remembering. I knew nothing of the events and people described in this book before I listened to this book, and now wish to learn more.

Some people complain about the narration, although I'm not sure what they didn't like. Charlton Griffin does an excellent job and adds a dramatic flair to the reading that some seem to dislike. (What would they prefer, a dry recitation?)

My only complaint is that I still feel like I know too little. I'm so ignorant of the region and its history, that I struggled to tie the story to the modern world. I don't know if I could find Samarkand on a map, and didn't recognize half the place names he mentioned, even when he placed them "near modern wherever". But that is only a complaint of the scope of my ignorance of the region and its history, and not of the book itself.

great tale of a somewhat unknown figure

It was a great history of a great man who has been forgotten by history.

Very entertaining, loved it

What did you love best about Tamerlane?

The narrator is doing a great job, good storytelling voice and pace. Luckily no sound effects as in other similar semi-fictious books. This is not your usual history book-type thing, going meticulously forward year by year but rather a smooth flowing story with lots of detail, vivid and colorful descriptions.

What did you like best about this story?

Its highly entertaining, lots of action and easy to follow plot. I am not sure about how much is fiction or facts, but it didn't bother me.

What about Charlton Griffin’s performance did you like?

Great voice, good speed. And good pronunciation of some very strange names, titles and places.

Very interesting

I really enjoyed learning about Tamerlane reading was wonderful
Great history lesson
Very informative would recommend

Lamb brings history to life

Tamerlane (Timur the lame) or correctly known as Timur ruler of Samarkand 1369-1405. Lamb says Timur was a Tartar, some other biographer’s claim he was a Turko-Mongol. I believe Lamb is correct as Timur was born in what is today Uzbekistan, which is the home land of the Tartars. After the fall of the Soviets, they tore down the statue of Marx and Stalin and put up a big statue of Timur. According to Lamb he married a Great Granddaughter of Genghis Khan. I found the author’s remarks that Samarkand was famous for its crimson cloth most interesting. I love learning these little tidbits of information. The author also said that Timur liked turquoise blue so the people made him turquoise blue cloth, they wore the cloth over the saddle that is the reason they were called the blue hoard. Lamb did not specify if his enjoyment of turquoise blue was before or after his conquering of Turkey. His Empire was enormous he ruled all of the “stans” all the middle east including Turkey , Egypt, India, Russia, Mongolia and parts of China. According to Lamb when he conquered the Golden Hoard (the Mongolian tribe that ruled Russia) he placed a group of Tartars in Crimea to control the area where Russian came in touch of Europe. (They lived in the Crimea until Stalin sent them to the gulags. The tartars returned with the fall of the Soviet’s and they apparently voted against the Russia takeover of the Crimea) Lamb said Timur also took Poland for a time. Lamb says Timur was a great patron of the art and architecture. Timur apparently enjoyed the domes of the Byzantium architecture and brought it back to Samarkand and into Russia. Timur used the Dome on his palaces and mosques, he was a Muslim. The author did cover Timur’s wars and brutality but also covered his love of architecture, his great ability as an administrator and war strategist. In enjoyed learning about Timur, his land and time. Lamb has a way of writing that brings history to life. It took me a bit to get use to the sound effects used in the audio book. I think the voice of Charlton Griffin was appropriate for this type of story.

Interesting.....But....

Many years ago I read a book titled Timur: Ruler Of The World. I thought that this was the same book with the title just different, but it isn't. The big difference is the book I read years ago was more like the Genghis Khan series that has been out the last few years. It was a story that became a hell of a ride because of the detail to both the on going daily life, wars, and training involved. It was a fiction based on fact. This story reads more like a historic account....Interesting, but basically just the facts. I found it good, but a bit long winded at times. I also found this using the King James Bible language a bit distracting with the "Thees, Thous" and such. Worth checking out, but not all that exciting.

Not bad

I'm a big fan of histories and like stories about empires, there's a good one about Russia like a radio lecture series, and great courses has a good one about modern China. With that said, this one reads like a book that happens to be Audio. Lots of foreign names come up and it makes it hard to remember the story. Therefore you have to repeat it. More modern audiobooks prepare you for foreign names. His military conquest chapters are interesting. Some about his early childhood and civil administration are a bit slow.

Good read

Starts off a b bit slow, but a good read overall 🙂. Would recommend to interested history readers