10 books like In the Empire of Genghis Khan

By Stanley Stewart,

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like In the Empire of Genghis Khan. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Playing the Moldovans at Tennis

By Tony Hawks,

Book cover of Playing the Moldovans at Tennis

Travel writing can be so serious. “I was a divorced heroin addict so I went on a hike” or “I have a terminal disease; this is my final journey.” This book (and the other books on my list) illuminate foreign places and people with erudition, thoughtfulness, and laughter.

Whenever I’m in London, I visit Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street and ask the sales assistant to recommend a humorous book about the former Soviet Union. Playing the Moldovans at Tennis is one of my favorites.  British comedian Tony Hawk's first book, Round Ireland with a Fridge, saw him hitchhike around the island to win a drunken £100 bet. In this book, Hawks accepts a bet from a friend that he can’t beat the entire Moldovan football team at tennis and the loser has to strip down and sing the Moldovan national anthem on Balham High Road. While his escapades…

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis

By Tony Hawks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Playing the Moldovans at Tennis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'All I knew about Moldova were the names of eleven men printed on the inside back pages of my newspaper. None of them sounded to me like they were any good at tennis ...'

An eccentric wager finds Tony Hawks, a man who loves an unusual challenge, bound for the little-known Eastern European state of Moldova. His mission: to track down members of the country's football team and persuade them to play him at tennis. The bizarre quest ultimately has little to do with tennis or football, but instead turns into an extraordinary journey involving the Moldovan underworld, gypsies, chronic…


The Geography of Bliss

By Eric Weiner,

Book cover of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

The USA is unique in that our Declaration of Independence identifies the happiness of citizens as a goal when organizing the country. The Geography of Bliss asks why all countries are not similarly organized. This book is a fun romp as the author visits different countries that have radically different happiness levels and seeks to find out why. A key finding from the book is that a rich cultural life increases happiness. This is consistent with my research that has shown its connections to, and experiences with, other people that account for most differences in happiness. This book made me think about what communities can do to foster social connections that drive up happiness levels. 

The Geography of Bliss

By Eric Weiner,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Geography of Bliss as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What makes a nation happy? Is one country's sense of happiness the same as another's? In the last two decades, psychologists and economists have learned a lot about who's happy and who isn't. The Dutch are, the Romanians aren't, and Americans are somewhere in between...

After years of going to the world's least happy countries, Eric Weiner, a veteran foreign correspondent, decided to travel and evaluate each country's different sense of happiness and discover the nation that seemed happiest of all.

*He discovers the relationship between money and happiness in tiny and extremely wealthy Qatar (and it's not a good…


Travels with My Aunt

By Graham Greene,

Book cover of Travels with My Aunt

Henry Pulling, a reluctantly retired bank manager, meets his 70-ish-year-old Aunt Augusta for the first time in more than 50 years at his mother’s funeral. His Aunt is vibrant, even outrageous, and he is anything but—a man whose only hobby is growing dahlias. An Aunt myself, I love a story about a wild, non-traditional Aunt, and her relationship with her nephew. As the title suggests, the story is told through the eyes of Henry. His views of his life and their travels are filled with humor and insight. The joy of this novel follows the challenges that arise when two generations confront their expectations of each other and themselvesexpectations that are never more alive than when we travel. 

Travels with My Aunt

By Graham Greene,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Travels with My Aunt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, meets his septuagenarian Aunt Augusta for the first time in over fifty years at his mother's funeral. Soon after, she persuades Henry to abandon Southwood, his dahlias and the Major next door to travel her way, through Brighton, Paris, Istanbul, Paraguay... Accompanying his aunt, Henry joins a shiftless, twilight society: mixing with hippies, war criminals, CIA men; smoking pot, breaking all the currency regulations and eventually coming alive after a dull suburban lifetime.


Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey

By Ralph Leighton,

Book cover of Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey

Legendary physicist Richard Feynman’s intrigue with the remote Siberian country of Tanaa Tuva was inspired by the country’s triangular postage stamps he collected as a child. As an adult, he asked his friend, Ralph Leighton if he knew anything about the country and when the two men discovered the capital was the “legitimate vowel-less” Kyzyl, they become obsessed with visiting it. Feynman and Leighton spent over ten years trying to reach Tuva, foiled by ridiculous Soviet bureaucracy and ultimately, Feynman’s death from cancer. While the ending is bittersweet, this story of friendship and obsession is a fitting tribute to Feynman’s passion, playfulness, and curiosity. 

Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey

By Ralph Leighton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tuva or Bust! Richard Feynman's Last Journey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1977, Feynman and his sidekick- fellow drummer and geography enthusiast Ralph Leighton-set out to make arrangements to visit Tuva, doing noble and hilarious battle with Soviet red tape, befriending quite a few Tuvans, and discovering the wonders of Tuvan throat-singing. Their Byzantine attempts to reach Tannu Tuva would span a decade, interrupted by Feynman's appointment to the committee investigating the Challenger disaster, and his tragic struggle with the cancer that finally killed him. Tuva or Bust! chronicles the deepening friendship of two zany, brilliant strategists whose love of the absurd will delight and instruct. It is Richard Feynman's last,…


The Mongol Empire

By Timothy May,

Book cover of The Mongol Empire

In this book Timothy May provides an impressive overview of the history of the Mongol Empire. Covering its history from the time of Chinggis Khan through to its decline and including discussion on matters ranging from the Mongols’ warcraft through to their internal politics and economic activities, The Mongol Empire offers a deeply authoritative and accessible overview of research in this field. This is the book I would recommend to anyone seeking a scholarly introduction to this subject. 

The Mongol Empire

By Timothy May,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mongol Empire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book explores the rise and establishment of the Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan, as well as its expansion and evolution under his successors. It also examines the successor states (Ilkhanate, Chaghatayid Khanate, the Jochid Ulus (Golden Horde), and the Yuan Empire) from the dissolution of the empire in 1260 to the end of each state.


Of Battles Past

By Bryn Hammond,

Book cover of Of Battles Past

The magnificence of the first in the Amalgant series is the immersive reconstruction of Mongol social, political, and religious worlds, as well as the lives of its people. Hammond resistantly reads histories produced by hostile cultures, instead privileging the earliest and most comprehensive Mongol tellings of their own lives, The Secret History of the Mongols. This is no dry historical account of cultural norms, steppe relations, or material artifacts, but an intimate and humane telling of the personal tragedies and struggles that would change the world as the war-orphaned Temujin grows to be the man we know as Chenggiz Khan.

Of Battles Past

By Bryn Hammond,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Of Battles Past as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mother Hoelun was never ashamed or embarrassed by their hardships. When Jochi wore a dog’s pelt for a cloak, because they had no fleeces and no felt and had to trade for hides and dog was cheap, none of the children felt a sense of indignity. Indignity was alien to her.The Mongols are a people of orphans. A disastrous battle with China has left wives without husbands, children without fathers. Temujin is one of these children, impoverished by the heavy tribute China has punished them with, in danger of forgetting what a Mongol stands for. Worse, Temujin's the subject of…


Genghis

By Conn Iggulden,

Book cover of Genghis: Lords of the Bow

Conn Iggulden is no stranger to historical battle fiction. Like others on this list, at least a dozen other novels could have been selected in this spot. Yet, Lords of the Bow expresses a savage bleakness in Genghis Khan’s earliest campaigns against the Xi Xia and Jin that will linger in the mind of any reader.

Mr. Iggulden’s writing regarding the Battle of Badger’s Mouth is incredible – not only for the complexities of the Mongol-Jin battle but equally due to Mr. Iggulden’s use of terrain and weather to raise tension. The battle is brief on the page, and overtaken by the extensive preparations of the Mongol and Jin armies immediately prior to combat, yet Badger’s Mouth leaves a distinct impression in a vast and growing sea of military historical fiction.

Genghis

By Conn Iggulden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Genghis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The brand new novel from the No.1 bestselling author of Emperor, his series on Julius Caesar. The second in the bestselling new Conqueror series on Genghis Khan, it is a wonderful, epic story which Conn Iggulden brings brilliantly to life. The gathering of the tribes of the Mongols has been a long time in coming but finally, triumphantly, Temujin of the Wolves, Genghis Khan, is given the full accolade of the overall leader and their oaths. Now he can begin to meld all the previously warring people into one army, one nation. But the task Genghis has set himself and…


Shike

By Robert Shea,

Book cover of Shike

An oldie, but I loved this book! It was actually two books when originally published (Time of the Dragons and Last of the Zinja). Set mostly in Mongolia and Japan, it tells the story of a warrior monk who falls in love with a Japanese princess who becomes a consort to Kubilai Khan (Ghenghis Khan’s grandson). As a kid, I loved the TV show Kung-Fu with David Carradine and Jebu (the main character) is a much bigger, badder version of Cane. Like Cane, Jebu is a half-blood but his barbarian side is the one that shows through so he is huge and red-haired. Lots of good action in this one. 

Shike

By Robert Shea,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shike as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Beautiful young Taniko struggles under oppression as the mistress of the cruel Kublai Khan, and Jebu, a young monk, is transformed into a fierce warrior, in a saga of the ancient Orient during a time of bloodshed


The Horde

By Marie Favereau,

Book cover of The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World

During the thirteenth century the Mongols advanced on many frontiers, their forces conquering China, much of the Near East, and even crossing the Indus River. One of their most substantial wars of conquest however was in north-western Eurasia where their armies covered enormous distances, ultimately reaching lands as distant as Poland and Hungary. In time, as the Mongol Empire broke apart, this region became a powerful empire in its own right, often referred to by historians as the “Golden Horde,” or in this case “The Horde”. In this book Marie Favereau provides a compelling history of this empire covering its origins, its development and its later history. This account is all the more significant because the Horde has actually received far less attention from scholars than the Mongols’ other territories. 

The Horde

By Marie Favereau,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Horde as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2021 Cundill History Prize Finalist
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year
A Spectator Best Book of the Year
A Five Books Best Book of the Year

"Outstanding, original, and revolutionary. Favereau subjects the Mongols to a much-needed re-evaluation, showing how they were able not only to conquer but to control a vast empire. A remarkable book."
-Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

The Mongols are widely known for one thing: conquest. In the first comprehensive history of the Horde, the western portion of the Mongol empire that arose after the death of Chinggis Khan, Marie Favereau shows…


The Sky Worshipers

By F.M. Deemyad,

Book cover of The Sky Worshipers: A Novel of Mongol Conquests

Why did I choose this book? It was the cover with the camels being led across the desert at sunrise. I’m a sucker for deserts and camels! Then it was the title The Sky Worshipers. How fascinating. Add to that the fact that I knew nothing of the Mongols and you have it all. And to learn that the story was fictionalized from actual diaries of Mongol princesses?! Get ready for a fascinating read albeit at times horrifying and moving.

The Sky Worshipers

By F.M. Deemyad,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sky Worshipers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Sky Worshippers: Women Who Change The Trajectory And Strength Of Genghis Khan And His Mongol Empire.

"An epic novel that pulls back the veil on the tumultuous life and times of Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who was intent upon becoming the ruler of the world. Breathtaking in scope, honest and raw, The Sky Worshipers reveals life in the orbit of the conquerors." –Kristine Morris, Foreword Reviews

★★★★★ The story, told in three parts, is expertly written. It’s the stuff of my childhood dreams; princesses, warriors, Marco Polo, the Silk Road.

★★★★★ There is so much detail in the…


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