Summary Of Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World Weatherford

The author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford, is first and foremost a professor of anthropology. The study of humans, their behavior, and their societies is a practice that is without social bias. This makes an anthological view of history to be one that is closer to true events than most—as there isn’t a set social outlook already determined when looking at history. In Weatherford’s case he has a fondness for indigenous cultures and societies as his previous works have always focused on these topics. Weatherford gives us an insight into Genghis Khan’s upbringing in the first few pages of the book. Through this we can understand that Weatherford believed the Great Khan was not just a dictator on a murderous rampage, as westerns usually depict, but was a complex and fair person who despite the Mongols' approach to dealing with the competing leadership classes rose to ruling almost half the world (xvi). Throughout the text, Weatherford argues that it is because of the Mongols that modern civilization has taken shape and that they were written favorably up until the 18th century. It is after that, Weatherford believes, that a bias of Asian people and stereotypes of them rose

Their military strategies and tactics that afforded them these victories were often studied and revered through history by others. The first tactic was to scare the enemy into submission before any actually fighting began. This form of psychological attack that incited fear and chaos in the city left the people with two choices, either to surrender or to be destroyed (5). The people where shown their fate as those that didn’t surrender were used as cannon fodder. This not only warned the outlying cities they were going to conquer now but other cities that were watching the fall of the unfortunate