Mongols (Men-At-Arms Series, 105)

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Introduction to the Mongols
Review: "The Mongols" by Stephen Turnbull explains how the Mongolians influenced history in the 1200s. Just like other Osprey Men-at-Arms books, this one is very short, to-the-point, and loaded with illustrations. Eight full-color plates illustrated by Angus McBride really bring the Mongols to life.

The book is only 40 pages long (including the index), but serves well in informing someone new to Mongolian history the basics of who they were and fought, and even their strategies on the battlefield. The author has the following to say about the Mongolians:

"No army has ever provoked such justifiable terror and loathing in its victims, or slaughtered so many of its vanquished. No other army has made and later carried out to the letter strategic plans so grand as those conceived at the great kuriltai or Council of War in 1235, with simultaneous attacks on both Poland and Korea. (p. 3)"

From reading "The Mongolians," one gets a sense they were brutal warriors, with examples such as 700,000 people were murdered in 1221 when Merv was captured by the Mongolians (p. 6). The Mongolians influenced history in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East with their invasions; this book presents this history well and makes learning about it interesting.


Rating:
Summary: Useful study of Mongol military strategy and tactics
Review: I enjoyed reading this book because I learned a lot about this fascinating period. The Mongol Empire stretched from China to present day Poland.Many leading powers today such as Germany, Russia, China and Japan had to bear the brunt of Mongol attacks or were incorporated into one of the world's largest empires. One interesting point is that after a while, the Mongols simply stopped advancing even though their enemies, Arabs or Europeans were not in a position to check their advances. It is difficult to imagine the course history would have taken had the Mongols pressed on with their offensive. The Western dominated international dydtem would not have existed. The book also has some interesting information on the battle tactics and equipment of the mongols. There is also a lot of details about their ability to assimilate outsiders and their military technology. A lot of of Chinese know-how especially in siege warfare was used, but the Mongols relied mainly on their ability to wage speedy, cavalry based attacks. Discipline and an honour system was a major reason for the success of the Mongols, a people who played a considerable part in shaping world history.

Rating:
Summary: Good one
Review: It's a fine book for the people who are beginners in Mongolian history field. Recommended. Only thing that's missing on Mongols' subject in Osprey books is that they don't have anything from original Mongolian sources (Osprey books use either Chinese, Russian, or Arabic sources mostly)! But as I said before this book is good for beginners and you won't be dissatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: A book with little content
Review: There is not much to read in this book. The depth of research is almost nonexistent.

Rating:
Summary: The end of a myth
Review: This book ends all the myths about the mongols - that they only won because they had numerical superiority, that their army was an uncoordinated horde of wild animals, and so on. Other bits and pieces of what we think we know about them are actually confirmed, though : that they were cruel, that they practically lived on their horses and so on. Additionally, there are brief descriptions about the clothes they were wearing, their haircuts and what they ate and drank. Together with the usual beautiful full color plates, this is a book which is highly recommended as a very good starting point for further studies in this area.