Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World Chapter Summary

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Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo. Genghis Khan. What do these three men have in common? According to Jack Weatherford, they’re all Renaissance men. In his book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (2004), Weatherford claims that Khan was not the barbaric leader of savages he had been portrayed as in Western Culture, but instead was an intelligent, strategic leader with a focus on securing the wellbeing of his empire. The book does a fantastic job at highlighting many of Khan’s contributions to the Modern World: increasing international trade, the spread of various technological and artistic inventions. The method of Weatherford’s research is also a subject of interest. However, Weatherford does seem to skim over some of the atrocities committed by the Khan’s army. The book is split into three parts. After a brief introduction, part one details the events leading up to Temujin, Genghis Khan’s real name, assuming power as leader of a Mongol tribe. Part 2 begins with Genghis taking control of the Mongol empire after a war against the previous Golden Khan and describes the Mongol’s conquest of Europe. The third and final part details the events after Genghis’ death and the resulting split of his empire amongst his…show more content…
He succeeds by explaining how much Genghis Khan and the Mongols did in order to increase the quality of his empire. Khan believed in the importance of trade and the taxes that the empire collected from it. . His empire built new roads and provided protection for all authorized merchants. This coupled with their adoption of paper money allowed the trade routes throughout Eurasia to flourish. He also implemented a complex system of administrators throughout the empire that allowed the Mongols to collect taxes from all their conquered cultures easily. This system greatly contrasts the image of barbarians most recall when thinking of the
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  • Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World Chapter Summary

    502 Words  | 3 Pages

    enghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World was written by Jack Weatherford, a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota. His book is well-known as a work of popular history. The book tells the story of Genghis Khan's life, influence and legacy, through his successors to the present day. It focuses on a number of recently unearthed and translated historical texts that, in centuries past, were unavailable, such as the Secret History of the Mongols. Genghis Khan and the Making of

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