Books like Genghis Khan by Leo de Hartog

Jack Weatherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World traces the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, showing how its conquests and governance reshaped trade, technology and law across Eurasia.

After Genghis Khan’s death, his heirs clash for power while Khan Ogedai consolidates control, builds Karakorum, and leads Mongol forces against China, Russia, Poland, and Hungary in a vivid portrait of 13th‑century conquest.

Frank McLynn’s biography of Genghis Khan traces Temujin’s rise from boyhood outcast to ruler of the vast Mongol Empire, weaving battle narratives with cultural context and current scholarship.

Genghis chronicles the rise of Genghis Khan from tragic beginnings to the murder of his father and his legendary conquests as a feared warrior who conquered much of the known world.

First published in 1989, just before the Gulf War broke out. Republic of Fear was the only book that explained the motives of the Saddam Hussein regime in invading and annexing Kuwait. Written under the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil, the book now appears for the first time under the author's real name. This updated edition relates how the Arab Bath Socialist party has transformed Iraq since 1968. A substantial new introduction focuses on the changes in Hussein's regime since the Gulf War. With Hussein still in power, Republic of Fear remains an important and timely book.

A concise biography of 12th-century Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan, detailing his rise and the expansive Mongol Empire that stretched from Peking to the Black Sea, with a look at present-day Mongolia.

In recent years, Iran has gained attention mostly for negative reasons - for its authoritarian religious government, disputed nuclear programme, and controversial role in the Middle East - but there is much more to the story of this ancient land than can be gleaned from the news. This authoritative and comprehensive history of Iran, written by Homa Katouzian, an acclaimed expert, covers the entire history of the area from the foundation of the ancient Persian Empire to today's Iranian state. Writing from an Iranian rather than a European perspective, Katouzian integrates the significant cultural and literary history of Iran with its political and social history. Some of the greatest poets of human history wrote in Persian - among them Rumi, Omar Khayyam, and Saadi - and Katouzian discusses and occasionally quotes their work. In his thoughtful analysis of Iranian society, Katouzian argues that the absolute and arbitrary power traditionally enjoyed by Persian/Iranian rulers has resulted in an unstable society where fear and short-term thinking dominate. A magisterial history, this book also serves as an excellent background to the role of Iran in the contemporary world.