In this fascinating history of the Mongol empire under Genchis Khan and Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty and their expansion of the empire through its navy, Jack Weatherford explores the massive impact that the Mongol dynasty and its expansion over land and sea had on China and its cultural and political development. In understanding achievements in cartography, mathematics, astrological navigation, paper money, and shipbuilding, readers get to take advantage of Weatherford’s narrative skill and access to fascinating primary documents from China and Mongolia in understanding this fascinating turn point in naval history. The focus on small changes with large impacts really emphasize the significance of controlling the sea on trade, politics, and warfare, and Weatherford helps readers follow Kublai Khan’s thought processes through his political decisions. In challenging the notion of Mongols as pure horse riders, this book helps readers gain a more complex and nuanced understanding of the Mongols and their impact on modern disciplines traditionally only associated with Europe. The narrative structure of the book really builds on each chapter to create a strong narrative, and it allows readers to fully understand the different historical events, innovations, and figures (and their long-term significance) to this brilliant and well-written new history title.

Ask someone to picture the Mongols of the past empire, and they’ll almost certainly (and justifiably, understandably) conjure up an image of a warrior on horseback, bow in hands, string pulled taut. But in Emperor of the Seas, Jack Weatherford clearly elucidates how Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, turned the nomadic horse-centered Mongols into a formidable naval power, allowing them to conquer southern China and expand their already vast empire, though they also suffered multiple setbacks along the way. It’s an often fascinating tale and one that will open up for many a wholly new part of history.

Weatherford does a nice job of setting the historical context for the cultural shift, and also explaining the motivation for such a drastic change in strategy, in particular the way in which southern China, then controlled by the once-powerful-but-now-in-decline Song dynasty was able to hold out so long against the Mongols thanks to being protected by border rivers. The shift was not easy or without major issues, but as Weatherford clearly depicts, eventually Kublai through various methods was able to overcome the Mongol fear/distrust of boats and breach the protective waters, opening up all of the wealth and skill of southern China to be exploited. From there, he built the world’s greatest navy at the time, extending Mongol influence to far-flung destinations.

That’s not to say this happened without setbacks. Multiple times Kublai tried to invade other countries and failed at great loss of life. Japan and Vietnam, for instance, both repulsed the invaders. But while the Mongol fleets didn’t always succeed militarily, they were nearly always successful economically, extending trade routes across Asia and the Middle East and making the Mongols the preeminent economic power in the world for some time. Eventually Kublai’s losses caught up with him, and Weatherford follows the Empire into his waning years and beyond, bringing us up to date in terms of China’s naval power and aspirations.

Weatherford places all of this in multiple contexts. Historical of course, covering aspects of Chinese, European, and Middle Eastern history in addition to Mongol. He shows how Kublai instituted changes beyond the focus on naval power, using diplomacy for instance more often then direct violence in comparison to his grandfather and especially his father (who “acquired a reputation as the most vicious of Genghis Kahn’s sons”) and also his openness to Chinese culture. Gender issues are also explored as Weatherford show the, possibly surprising to some readers, incredible power wielded by the women in the Empire.

Weatherford is an extremely accessible writer. The prose is always clear, as are the logistics of battles, the political maneuvering and machinations (whether within the Mongol Empire or between it and its outside allies/foes), the shifts in time and place. It’s all easy to follow. Weatherford also does a good job of making clear just when sources are reliable or possibly not or lack widespread collaboration from other texts, something not always the case in popular history works. He may did into the weeds of details more than some readers prefer, and the extension beyond Kublai’s death may go further for others, but those are mere quibbles. Overall, this is an informative, accessible, interesting look at a relatively unexplored/unknown (to the general public at least) part of history. Recommended.

To say that the Mongols of the 13th century weren’t seafaring is an understament. They didn’t even like to get on boats. Jack Weatherford explains why – and that he does is an important reason why this is such a good book. How the leader of a bunch of landlocked Mongol horsemen became the Emperor of the Yuan dynasty in China and built an oceangoing navy to do so is complex. It is the story of multiple transitions – political, social, economic. History becomes interesting in the details and some might find this book too detailed. I found it terrifically informative. Weatherford makes clear the whys and hows and their consequences.

The book is interesting enough, but I don't understand how anyone can write about Kubla Khan and not mention Coleridge's poem: "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree," which has been engraved upon my mind for sixty or seventy years! Nor is there mention of Chingis/Gengis Khan or the Mongol empire that did so much to shape Russia. So I won't be reviewing this title, but thanks for letting me read it.

If you like reading books about history, you will truly enjoy "Emperor of the Seas" by Jack Weatherford. A detailed review of the reign of Kubli Khan and the second half of the Mongol Empire. Buy this book and have fun reading it!

I am grateful to Bloomsbury USA for providing me with an ARC:of Jack Weatherford's "Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of Modern China." It is a revelation and an astounding bit of scholarship on a subject of great interest to all of us but one which has been badly neglected in traditional Western oriented historiography. The title is a bit misleading if it leads you to believe this is a study of naval history. Instead, naval developments in the Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan are traced through the reign of Kublai Khan as a kind of entry point to a much broader discussion of the history of the Chinese state and society. It is, quite frankly, simply riveting and is filled with little known or discussed facts about Chinese history from the Mongol conquest of the North to the ascension of the Ming Dynasty. If you want a better understanding of the off and on again Chinese development of a Blue Water Navy, this is a great starting point. In addition, the selection of the maritime elements of events as central ties it to modern perceptions and misconceptions about the nature of Chinese society and the internal stresses present throughout the evolution of the modern Chinese multicultural empire. Military events play an important role here, but they are only lightly glossed over in pursuit of the author's broader project of contextualizing Chinese attitudes towards trade and shipping as key to an understanding of Modern China. From Mongol foreign policy to the development of an economic and political infrastructure, there is a lot here to unpack. This text belongs in any academic library and merits serious consideration for even more general readers. It is truly fascinating.

How much do you know about the Mongol empires? If you grew up in the U.S., chances are you answered, “Absolutely nothing.” The world is a big place, and world history has never been much of a priority in American schools; we study various phases of U.S. history, state history, and in a wild flurry of internationalism, some districts now teach a semester of Canadian history. The single year of world history in high school is usually devoted to World War II, which is impossible to teach without including information about Europe, and a smidgen about Japan along with, yes, more American history. There you go. Here’s your diploma.

In my retirement years, I have reveled in the freedom to learn about the history that wasn’t on the syllabus for what I studied, and later, what I was hired to teach. Having marched my way through various other times and places, I realized that I knew nothing about the Mongol khans. I read one novel about Genghis, and I was hooked.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the review copy. You can buy this book now.

If you’re going to read a single nonfiction book about the Mongols, this would be a fine choice. Jack Weatherford’s research is outstanding, including works in several non-English languages that most of us couldn’t hope to read on our own. His scholarship is so meticulous that he has been awarded both of Mongolia’s top national awards. Not half bad, for a boy from South Carolina. And while this book is not written as narrative nonfiction, the tone is conversational, the language accessible. I read it daily at lunch time, and it wasn’t long before I was shouting out random, amazing facts to family members that dared venture into the kitchen.

It began with Genghis, a young man whose family was left homeless, left to freeze or starve when his father and protector died. With desperation, talent, and ruthlessness that he learned well, he turned it around, and as he grew up he vanquished his enemies, brought the most talented and trustworthy elements to himself, and let the devil take the rest. His instinct for military strategy was a thing of pure genius. But this book is mostly not about him; it’s about his grandson, Kublai Khan, who expanded the empire Genghis began until his domain stretched from Baghdad to the far shores of China.

Until Kublai arrived, Mongols were an inland people, but it was Kublai who realized that in order to expand and become a world power, he had to have ocean-going vessels and people that knew how to use them. The peoples of Southern China were tough to defeat, but once it was done, he was able to use their technologies in ways that were of immeasurable value.

The progression looked like this (in a very simplified version): Genghis conquered, and took no prisoners, with a few rare exceptions. Kublai conquered, but also used diplomacy, highlighting the potential benefits of becoming a Mongol subject; he didn’t routinely kill everyone he defeated. And under Kublai’s son Temur, the Mongols segued from physical battle to economic dominance, making China’s ports the ideal destination of merchants from all over the world.

One of the most interesting things I learned had to do with the authority that was vested in the women of the highest placed families. When the men rode off to conquer, it was women that looked after the business interests and saw to local governance. It worked out nicely; Europeans should have taken note.

I can’t compare this book to others because I haven’t read any others on this topic cover to cover, but I wouldn’t let that stop you. If the Mongols are persuaded that Weatherford has done the work and done it well, who can argue? I learned a great deal and enjoyed it, and so I highly recommend it to you.

An astonishing story of maritime history about a part of the world often overlooked. The book is a good launching point for further exploration on the subject.

Emperor of the Sea is an informative engaging look at Kubla Kahn someone I knew very little about.Really well written a book I really enjoyed,#netgalley#bloomsburybooks.

A very informative book with lots of research. I never knew that China had such a dominate presence on the seas. Really great!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury USA for an advance copy of a history book that looks at Mongol war tactics that has not been discussed much in book form, the rise of naval power, and how it changed Mongol culture and history.

My high school spent little time in discussing the Mongol invasions of Europe and Asia, even though I remember a class on Western Civilization that should have mentioned it at least slightly. The textbooks for the class were written in the Reagan era, so being so close to the Vietnam war, maybe Texas didn't want textbooks detailing Europe's near conquest from the East. I gave up wondering about my education in high school, though I do wonder if much of what I did not learn explains the world of today. My knowledge of Kublai Khan came more from the awesome, at least in my opinion, song by the progressive Canadian band Rush, "Xanadu" and the equally mesmerizing and ethereal poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Kubla Khan, or A Vision in a Dream. Later as I read more history I learned about the Mongols, their armies, their ways of ruling, and even more about Kublai Khan. However I don't remember learning about the rise of the Mongols on the ocean, what this meant and how it changed Mongol history. Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China by educator and scholar Jack Weatherford tells of Kublai Khan, his rise to power, his interest in things far beyond empire building and how he came to see the sea as something more than a barrier, or annoyance, but as a power to be controlled.

The book begins with a history of the time, and how the Mongol empire gained and held their power. Readers learn of the battles behind the scenes for power, the poisonings, the accident that moved people in power, and the fact that women had a surprising say, and a lot of power in the courts. Kublai Kahn was the grandson of the Genghis Khan, and took much after his mother in looks and attitudes. Kublai was more of person who liked knowledge, meeting with people and learning things, rather than cross the steppes on horseback. Or even to fight the many, many wars the Mongols were in the middle of. Kublai liked to use his gout as an excuse for not leading his armies, and after a few embarrassment was assigned an older war leader and his son to actually command the armies the Kublai was given. This gave Kublai a chance to do what he did best, observe, learn, and make deals when possible. It was in battles with the armies of Vietnam that Kublai saw the power that boats gave his enemy, enabling them to move troops, supplies, and eventually retreat on waterways, that men of the steppes could not deal with. Soon Kublai was faced with a choice to grab power, pushed by the women in his life, and with a few ideas. One was of building a navy that could unleash the true power of the Mongol Empire.

A very interesting book about a whole lot of subjects. I never though I would learn about the use of paper money under the Mongols, or how much an environmental disaster building an navy could cause to an area, stripping whole forests to the ground leaving nothing even for shade as one poem put it. Weatherford is a very good writer, and one that is very familiar with his subject matter. I read this this book has been a long time in coming, and one can see why. There are plenty of notes, showing a lot of the research that Weatherford did. Weatherford is a good stylist, presenting a lot of information, but not overwhelming the reader in dull facts. I enjoyed the fact that on almost every page I could find something new and interesting.

A book for people interested in both military and cultural history of the Mongol Empire, and Europe. There have been a few new appraisals of the Mongols recently, I consider this one of the best, and most interesting. I look forward to more books by Jack Weatherford.

An informative account of the great Kublai Khan and his use of naval base warfare. From the death of his grandfather, Genghis, to the battles he fought both within the Mongol nation and against foreign foes, the author covered a great deal of the history of this great empire. A recommended read for any history buffs.

While I fashion myself a history nerd, I have to admit to knowing very little about Kublai Khan before picking up Emperor of the Seas by Jack Weatherford. In fact, if you asked me to spell it, I would have failed quite badly. Now I am educated!

Weatherford tells the story of Kublai's rise from a child to becoming, well, that is a bit complicated. First, there is a not a ton of documentation on the life of the Khan's on account of being nomadic and prone to taking over other societies. The other reason his title is complicated is that Kublai and various family members were very scattered and the question of who was truly the successor to the Great Khan was up for debate. Kublai was mainly based in China and carried with it a lot of uncertainty. Weatherford unpacks this all very well in easy to read prose and an eye for interesting detail (when it is available). Kublai would eventually create a navy with varying initial success which is unusual for a bunch of reasons that are better if Weatherford tells you.

I'd say the sole weakness of the book would be some extraneous information. A chapter on cuisine seems out of place, and there are too many chapters after Kublai's death which could have been cut or shortened. I still enjoyed the book immensely and learned quite a lot.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Bloomsbury.)

"Emperor of the Seas" by Jack Weatherford is an engaging historical account that explores the life and legacy of the legendary pirate Zheng He. Weatherford’s detailed narrative brings to light Zheng He’s remarkable maritime expeditions and his impact on global trade and diplomacy during the Ming Dynasty. The book’s vivid storytelling and thorough research offer readers a fascinating glimpse into one of history’s most influential yet often overlooked figures. It’s a compelling read for anyone interested in maritime history and the broader scope of global exploration.

I found this book to be very informative and engaging. As someone who knows very little about history at all, I feel that I was able to easily learn about the subjects presented in this book and I feel that I have an adequate understanding of what happened during Kublai’s reign. I think this book will also help me to branch out and look into other books related to this subject so that I can continue to increase my knowledge. I would be interested in reading other books from this author as well.