It was through bitter experience growing up on the harsh and unforgiving steppes of Mongolia that Genghis Khan learned to trust few people and to be vigilant of the personalities and events around him. As a result of an early life filled with hardship, betrayals, and constant struggle, Genghis Khan developed into a cunning and effective leader of men in battle. He became an innovative commander who disdained customary tactics when those strategies failed to bring victory. Genghis Khan united the tribes of Mongolia in a way never before seen, leading them to the settled lands of Eurasia and achieving almost super-human victories over vastly larger forces. By the time of his death he had created an empire of immense proportions, larger than anything before in history. Genghis Khan addresses how the teenaged son of a minor Mongol chieftain created a military machine of extraordinary striking power and wielded it to conquer such lands as China, Central Asia, and Persia.

Includes maps of: Mongolia's Neighbors to the Southeast; Genghis' Assault on the Jin Empire, 1214; Invasion of Khwarazm, 1221; Genghis Khan's Empire at the Time of His Death, 1227.

Mongolian background -- The early years -- Unification of Mongolia -- Mongol military system -- Assault on Xi Xia and Jin China -- Destruction of the Khwarazmian Empire -- Genghis Khan's final campaign.