Genghis Khan

The Spectator (UK), 6/27/15
“[Khan's] was an extraordinary, epic story and Frank McLynn does it full justice in a vivid, page-turning biography.”

Sunday Times (UK), 6/21/15
“A formidable study of the world's greatest conqueror. With this compelling history of a brilliant, complex leader and ruthless master of warfare, McLynn has done his man proud.”

Sunday Times (UK), “Must Reads,” 6/28/15
“A formidable study of the ruthless Mongolian nomad who carved out an empire.”

The Times (UK), 6/27/15
“McLynn has carefully synthesized the work of hundreds of scholars to create a sensitive and immensely detailed portrait of an extraordinary leader.”

Shelf Awareness for Readers, 7/31/15
“A staggeringly ambitious biography of history's greatest conqueror…Genghis Khan is fascinating enough to appeal to any history fan.”

Maclean's, 7/24/15
“McLynn's bio of the legendary, brutal conqueror reveals the Mongol's mantras.”

My Big Honkin Blog, 7/29/15
“The hundred pages of endnotes clearly illustrates the efforts that McLynn put forth in penning Genghis Khan.”

Examiner.com, 8/3/15
“Brings us face to face with this complex man who shaped the course of history.”

Praise for Genghis Khan

Booklist, July 2015
“This ambitious and massive effort offers some credible insights into the qualities of Genghis while providing an excellent chronicle of his military campaigns and conquests. Particularly interesting is McLynn's description of thirteenth-century Mongolia, with its incredibly complicated web of tribes, clans, and subclans…This is an informative and admirable effort that is ideal for general readers.”

Kirkus Reviews starred review, 5/15/15
“A sanguinary and thorough account of ‘the greatest conqueror the world has ever known.' McLynn knows the terrain and the times so well that he writes about 12th- and 13th-century history and culture as if it were yesterday. Throughout this intricately detailed text, the author pauses continually to explain relevant devices, personalities, political situations, and geography—all of this gives readers a chance to truly understand…McLynn recognizes that the historical sources must be constantly questioned and analyzed, as victors tend to inflate their victories and losers, to minimize and blame…Thoroughly researched, grim, grisly, and sometimes even grudgingly admiring.”

Publishers Weekly, 5/18/15
“Sweepingly ambitious and persistently intriguing.”

Lemuria blog, 10/10/15
“Wildly interesting and very informative.”

Manhattan Book Review, 11/1/15
“[A] monumental masterpiece…Genghis Khan is no mere dry history book; the subject matter is so fascinating that despite few attempts to spice things up, one cannot help but be engrossed in the tale of one of history's greatest protagonists…McLynn's work is flawless; even if readers are not interested in a history, it would stand on its own as a masterwork novel of intrigue and conquest.”

New York Journal of Books, 12/5/15
“[McLynn] bring[s] the skill of a seasoned scholar to produce a readable, credible work, usefully illustrated with maps and pictures.”

Simply Charly, 12/13/15
“[A] sweeping study…This is a portrait of a single man's rise to greatness and of an obscure tribe's transformation from an isolated nomadic existence to a world power…This is the portrait of a complex man driven to greatness by the strength of his abilities and an unshakable will.”

Providence Journal, “2015's Best in Nonfiction,” 12/27/15
“This comprehensive biography by British historian McLynn tells us all about the Mongol's brilliant strategy and the bloody battles, but you may find the anthropological details even more fascinating.”

InfoDad blog, 8/6/15
“Such a man requires the most substantial possible biography, and McLynn gives him one that resoundingly demonstrates how intricately fascinating history can be…Sumptuous, erudite and stylish, careful to rely on often-contradictory primary sources when any such exist from so remote an era, McLynn's Genghis Khan is a sweeping 650-page trek through times and peoples whose very names sound like the stuff of legend…A book that…makes history come alive.”

Literary Review, August 2015
“[An] impressive new biography…[A] deeply researched and finely honed portrait…A biography of extraordinary synthesis and historical vision.”

South China Morning Post, 9/19/15
“McLynn takes an epic story and distills it into a book that will fill readers with awe.”

Internet Review of Books, 8/18/15
“This complicated book is Frank McLynn's twenty-fourth history, and includes an extensive bibliography, and voluminous notes…If you sink your teeth into it, you won't be disappointed.”

Military Heritage, November 2015
“This new biography covers the life of this infamous and important man who would today be seen as a genocidal maniac. Time has softened the results of his actions, but the author brings the man vividly to life.”

"McLynn succeeds in lifting the veil from Khan's early life, his rise to power, and his rule. Furthermore, the author adds depth to the narrative by discussing not only his subject's military strategies and campaigns but also by delving into the structure of Mongol society, the role of women, and the reorientation of the Mongols from factional tribalism to absolute devotion to the Khan...A richly complete account."

"[An] account of how the founder and leader of the Mongol empire was a skilled strategist with a cowardly streak...The bloody story of how an illiterate peasant came to rule the "largest contiguous land empire" the world has known."

"In author Frank McLynn's estimation, there is more to be gleamed from the Mongol emperor's life, and much more to be added to his incomplete record. Genghis Khan is McLynn's successful proof of concept, built on newly-translated sources to expand our understanding of the man responsible for forging one of the world's greatest empires."

"The most readable, enjoyable, and comprehensive study of the subject since John Man's brilliant 2005 book... A first-rate biography."

"This new biography covers the life of this infamous and important man who would today be seen as a genocidal maniac. Time has softened the results of his actions, but the author brings the man vividly to life."

"[A] monumental masterpiece...Genghis Khan is no mere dry history book; the subject matter is so fascinating that despite few attempts to spice things up, one cannot help but be engrossed in the tale of one of history's greatest protagonists...McLynn's work is flawless; even if readers are not interested in a history, it would stand on its own as a masterwork novel of intrigue and conquest."

"[McLynn] bring[s] the skill of a seasoned scholar to produce a readable, credible work, usefully illustrated with maps and pictures."

"This comprehensive biography by British historian McLynn tells us all about the Mongol's brilliant strategy and the bloody battles, but you may find the anthropological details even more fascinating."

"A detailed but highly readable narrative... McLynn's information on Genghis is sound and exhaustive because the author drew on virtually every authoritative study related to his subject."

"McLynn writes with evident relish as he puzzles over an unlikely world conqueror whose rise defies any theory offered in explanation."

"Over seventeen chapters and nearly five hundred pages, McLynn builds the case that Genghis Khan was 'the greatest conqueror the world has ever known'...An interesting read."

"McLynn tells his story brilliantly, cutting through myth to paint a portrait of a complex man, a product of his time and place, but able to rise above circumstance to impose himself on the world in terrifying fashion."