In The Empire of Genghis Khan: An Amazing Odyssey Through the Lands of the Most Feared Conquerors in History - Hardcover

Stewart, Stanley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585747033 ISBN 13: 9781585747030

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Vivid, hilarious, and compelling, this eagerly awaited book takes its place among the travel classics. It is a thrilling tale of adventure, a comic masterpiece, and an evocative portrait of a medieval land marooned in the modern world. Eight and a half centuries ago, under Genghis Khan, the Mongols burst forth from Central Asia in a series of spectacular conquests that took them from the Danube to the Yellow Sea. Their empire was seen as the final triumph of the nomadic "barbarians."In this remarkable book Stanley Stewart sets off on a pilgrimage across the old empire, from Istanbul to the distant homeland of the Mongol hordes. The heart of his odyssey is a thousand-mile ride, traveling by horse, through trackless land. On a journey full of bizarre characters and unexpected encounters, he crosses the desert and mountains of Central Asia to arrive at the windswept grasslands of the steppes, the birthplace of Genghis Khan. (6 x 9, 288 pages)

About this title

About the Author:

STANLEY STEWART is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph. His work has taken him to more than fifty countries, and has won him numerous prestigious awards--including Travel Writer of the Year. He is the author of Old Serpent Nile, an account of his journey to the source of the river; and Frontiers of Heaven, the story of his journey across China, for which he won his first Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award.

From Publishers Weekly:

Stewart, a British journalist and travel writer (Old Serpent Nile), takes a 1,000-mile horseback journey across Mongolia, the homeland of Genghis Khan. The author has a gift for merging history and anecdote and succeeds in engaging the reader throughout this informed narrative. Although their culture is dying out, nomadic Mongolians still live in gers (wood-framed felt tents) that can be quickly dismantled and transported across the Asian steppes as they travel continuously on horseback in search of pasture for their sheep, goats and yaks. Stewart vividly describes the days he spent on horseback with his guides, riding through desolate but breathtaking scenery. During his trip, he enjoyed remarkable hospitality from the nomads, who gave him a place to sleep and fed him mutton and airag (fermented mare's milk). His unusual adventures include a wedding, an encounter with a shaman and a visit to a clan meeting. Stewart blames the brutal introduction of communism into the country for Mongolia's troubles and, unfortunately, demonstrates his contempt for Russia by caricaturing many of the Russians he encountered. But this is the only discordant note in an otherwise excellent travelogue, which received the U.K.'s 2001 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. Photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1585747033
• ISBN 13: 9781585747030
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288