THE MONGOL STORM: MAKING AND BREAKING EMPIRES IN THE MEDIEVAL NEAR EAST Paperback – Import, 27 October 2022

The title of the book might mislead some readers. The book is less about the Mongols themselves and more about the empires at the receiving end of the Mongol ruthless onslaught. The book is an highly readable history of the Near East with myriad of empires, principalities and people caught up in the midst of the Mongol onslaught.As someone who is somewhat familiar with the Mongol invasion – seize of Baghdad, destruction of Alamut, defeat at Ayn Jalut, I found this book really interesting and helped me understand the region during the tumultuous period.The writer doesn’t try the common trick by historians to get attention to their work by controversially asserting the opposite of commonly held historical view. At the same time the writer explains the Mongol’s worldview and beliefs which led them to see themselves as world-conquerors and did what they did to the conquered people. The Mongols practiced brutal collective extermination of the population to instilled fear on the rest of the empire in the region and to encourage voluntarily submission. Conquered population were recruited in the Mongol forces to be part of the frontline and if any recruits flee battle, the remaining members of the squad of 10 will be executed and if the squad deserted then entire company of 100 will be executed.With the exception of the Mamluks, almost all the empire, principalities- Seljuks, Empire of Nicea, Zangids, Armenians submitted to Mongols. I was surprised to learn that Mongols initially suffered defeat at the hands of Abbasids before decimating the Baghdad and its population in 1258.The book explains the intricate political understanding between the Ayyubids dynasty and Crusade states. Due to Ayyubid’s internal bickering, they felt fighting the crusader state was a distraction. And rivals within the Ayyubid family preferred to cement an alliance with the Crusade states against each other.The real badass, for the lack of a better term, was Baybars. An Qipchak Turkic slave boy who became the Sultan of Egypt and successfully defeated the Mongols and Crusade states. Following the defeat in Ayn Jalut and internal power struggle, the Mongol empire broke down into IlKhanate, Golden Horde, Blue Horde, The Great Khan and Chaghadayids. The Ilkhanate suffered from internal power struggle within the noble family before its inevitable demise.Overall, a good read on tumultuous period of the Near East. Highly recommend it.

For centuries, the Crusades have always been the key event that influenced the history of the medieval Near East but these religious wars are only part of the region’s complex history. It can be argued that not the Crusades, but the Mongol invasions which reshaped the entire Near East, altering the geopolitics of an entire region.This is the definitive history of the Mongol assault on the Near East as well as Europe. In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East, and Empires such as the Byzantines, the Abbuyid Empire, Khwarazmian Empire, the Seljuk Turks, and the crusaders struggled to survive, while new players such as the Ottomans arose to fight back. The Mongol conquests forever transformed the region from Egypt to Jerusalem, to Byzantium, and to Syria and Georgia, and Armenia. The book goes into great detail about how the Mongols organized themselves, how they viewed themselves as having a mandate from heaven to rule, and their invasions. It also talks about the crusades and the power shift in Egypt with the Mamluks coming to power. This is an astonishingly all-inclusive book on the impact of the Mongols. With an amazing level of research, helpful maps, and detailed accounts of empires in the Medieval Near East, this book tries to depict the truly complicated affairs of the medieval Near East.For centuries, the Crusades have always been the key event that influenced the history of the medieval Near East but these religious wars are only part of the region’s complex history. It can be argued that not the Crusades, but the Mongol invasions which reshaped the entire Near East, altering the geopolitics of an entire region.This is the definitive history of the Mongol assault on the Near East as well as Europe. In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East and Empires such as the Byzantines, the Abbuyid Empire, Khwarazmian Empire, the Seljuk Turks, and the crusaders struggled to survive, while new players such as the Ottomans arose to fight back. The Mongol conquests forever transformed the region from Egypt to Jerusalem, to Byzantium, and to Syria and Georgia and Armenia. The book goes in great detail about how the Mongols organized themselves, how they viewed themselves as having a mandate from heaven to rule, and their invasions. It also talks about the crusades, and the power shift in Egypt with Mamluks coming to power. This is an astonishingly all-inclusive book on the impact of the Mongols. With an amazing level of research, helpful maps, and detailed accounts of empires in the Medieval Near East, this book tries to depict the truly complicated affairs of the medieval Near East.The book focuses on Near East Asia (from the Caspian and Aral Seas to Constantinople and Hungary) It starts with the reign of Genghis Khan in 1218 and ends half a century after the death of Kublai Khan in 1353, with the breakup of the Mongol Empire into four fragments fighting among themselves. The book discusses how Mongols opened up new trade routes to China, allowing multiple religions to coexist within their empire, and incorporating innovative military technologies from the forces they conquered. How political infighting and dynastic upheavals led to the collapse of the Khwarazmian Empire of Central Asia, the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate, and the smaller crusader kingdoms and led to the rise of aggressive new empires including the Mamluks and the Ottomans, who would ultimately challenge the Mongol Empire and dominate the Middle East for centuries.Overall, The book is very well written and researched. Sometimes the flurry of facts might seem daunting but every effort is made to simplify the complex history of that time. There are many maps that helps the reader understand the political landscape of the region. The book itself is well-written, well-structured the book well, largely chronological and easy to understand even for casual readers. A must-read for all history fans especially those interested in Mongol history.Many thanks to Basic Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book is an impressive and very detailed history of the impact the Mongol hordes had on the peoples who endured their wrath. The Mongols believed that it was Devine Right that they conquer the whole of earth. And they definitely tried! I read other reviews and people were disappointed it wasn't more about Mongols as a people, but more of those they conquered...this technically true, but there's enough in the cover of the book to let you know it's about their impact on societies around them, rather than about themselves. This doesn't mean there's nothing about them and their culture, there is, but it's mostly focused on the various kingdoms, nations, and tribes in the near east, eastern Europe and Central Asia who they invaded and subjugated. Additionally, the powers of the time spent a great deal of time shoring up relationships with one another or siding with the Mongols rather than be defeated. It does also cover, but in a more minimal manner, their impact on Chinese society as well on their eastern boarder. Over all it was a really interesting read and I highly recommend it to historians, anthropologists, and those interesting in culture and warfare in the Middle Ages.

Really good product. Cross cutting of paper is as secure as you can wish for.Delivery was very prompt to the Amazon counter at my local post office.

In the 13th century the Mongols conquered most of the Near East, demanding total submission. Their enormous realm split in succession crises but stayed extremely strong. The emphasis here lies on the realms that were subjected or that, as Egypt, managed to withstand, but the Mongol values are also presented, in particular their great interest in international trade and also in science. Also much information on the crusader states. Rich notes and bibliography. In spite of all changes since then this history feels remarkably relevant today as well.

I made a critical mistake ordering this book - I judged it by its cover! This IS NOT a book about the Mongol Empire. Instead, it's about every other kingdom in the ancient Near Middle East and how they responded to the Mongols. To be fair, it is a well-written, engaging, and well-researched book from which I learned a great deal. Just not about the Mongols!

I read this immediately after reading Frankopans First Crusade. This was fortunate as there are linear synergies as to the events here in. This brought out granular details of the near east and the fast changing alliances. Cilisian Armenia Kingdom is a star, a nation play their cards brilliantly (I need to read a book on them!). What surprised was the Frankish Christian Kingdoms submitted to the Mongols. But also they played did deals to allow the Mamelukes through to fight the Mongols! Someone else mentioned that the Mongols were almost peripheral and this titling was deceptive. Honestly without the title I might not have read this book . (I did listen to the author on History Extra Podcast). Surprisingly brilliant. I have 15 pages to go so what to read next! That will depend on the deal i can find on Amazon daily deal!