In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree...

In 1797, British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge did a little reading on Kublai Khan, smoked some opium, passed out and had a vivid dream the Great Khan’s majestic palaces. He awoke with a 300 line poem already in his head, but was interrupted by his opium dealer, who’d arrived in the middle of the night and took an hour to complete their transaction. Thus, Coleridge forgot most of his poem, and was able to scrounge together a mere 54 lines with which to write one of the most infamous poems in the English language.

John Man not only knows his history, but he also has a way of writing. It’s his prose. He knows exactly where to go with his narrative to convey the most amount of information and keep you interested. In “Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection”, he spent a good deal of time describing modern day Mongolia, the tribulations Mongols faced under Stalin and the emerging risk of Chinese cultural and economic domination, all by relating it to his travels through Mongolia and the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. A sort of steppe travelogue that’s very heavy on the history. It’s not the sort of writing style that’s for everyone, but it really worked for me. Here, in Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China” he does the same, recounting his travels through China, modern day Beijing and the ruins of Xanadu, but it’s less so. The bulk of Genghis’ life is, after all, a small collection of details painted over a wide canvas which he have only one limited source for, whereas Kublai’s life we have much more.

The book is divided into four parts – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – which is divided into 17 chapters. Collectively, they cover Kublai’s beginnings; Hulegu’s atrocities in the Middle East; the conquest of Yunnan; the civil war with Ariq-Boke; Kublai’s bureaucratic and religious administration; the key to the Song conquest; both attempts at Japan; Kaidu’s challenge, the attempts at Burma, Vietnam and Java; and the end of his life and his secret burial (amongst other subjects). Oh, and the genesis of Coleridge’s poem.

While I applaud Man for his thoroughness, there is perhaps one area where the book could have used a more detailed history: Nayan’s Rebellion. He does cover it, briefly in the end, but it’s a by-the-way sort of mention. Also, he references the current China-Mongolia relationship in his epilogue, building upon what he’s written in “Genghis Khan”, but largely glossing over that as well. In that regard, it helps to have read the other book (which I would highly recommend).

An excellent book. I’ve always sort of found Kublai to be one of the boring ones in Mongol history – perhaps because, to me, he comes off more Chinese than Mongolian. Here, Man makes it interesting by exploring quandary in Kublai’s own cultural identity. ( )

What a family the Khans were. A fascinating story about the grandson of Genghis. An empire which lasted nearly 300 years in one form or another, with some descendants being 'lost' in history by becoming Muslims. Superb warriors, butchers, administrators. All ended in nothing. But, an interesting attention-holding book. ( )