The New York Times Book Review - Simon Winchester
…what is most remarkable about this fine and fascinating book is Weatherford's central claim that the Great Khan's ecumenism has as its legacy the very same rigid separation of church and state that underpins no less than the American idea itself. The United States Constitution's First Amendment is, at its root, an originally Mongol notion…Weatherford argues his case very well—and in doing so offers further amplification of the notion that so many of the West's claimed achievements in fact have their true origins in the East, and that countries like Mongolia, far from being, as those hapless British diplomats once believed, at the utter ends of the earth, are very much more central than most of us nowadays like to imagine.
Publishers Weekly
08/08/2016
Weatherford (Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World), former professor of anthropology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., focuses on the religious life of Genghis Khan (1162–1227), repeating some biographical material from his earlier book. Weatherford is an engaging storyteller who has done broad research and is passionate about Khan and his impact, but this passion is the source of the book’s major weaknesses. First, Weatherford frequently presents unsupported speculation about Khan’s personal psychology as knowable facts, perhaps to make history accessible for a popular readership. Second, in rehabilitating Khan’s reputation as a bloodthirsty conqueror, Weatherford often misbalances and overstates his own theses, portraying Khan instead as a model of ideal justice and wisdom and the potential origin of modern religious freedom. Third, Weatherford meanders, touching on, for instance, Khan’s own spiritual life; the laws and taxes for adherents of various religions in his empire; and a review of connections between Mongolia and Tibet. This is an interesting overview of some of the religious dynamics of the Mongolian empire in the 13th century but will leave readers looking for in-depth analysis wanting. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"The conquests of the Mongols were arguably the most important event of the last millennium in Eurasia. Yet Genghis Khan has remained an opaque and enigmatic figure, a symbol of cruelty and little else. Jack Weatherford has peeled back the curtain and revealed a complex man and thinker in this path-breaking work of rousing history and scholarship."
— Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Revenge of Geography and Eastward to Tartary
“Revisionist history on a grand scale, but one as scrupulously well researched as such an intellectual overhaul needs to be…What is most remarkable about this fine and fascinating book is Weatherford’s central claim that the Great Khan’s ecumenism has as its legacy the very same rigid separation of church and state that underpins no less than the American idea itself. The United States Constitution’s First Amendment is, at its root, an originally Mongol notion…. Weatherford argues his case very well, and in doing so offers further amplification of the notion that so many of the West’s claimed achievements in fact have their true origins in the East.”
— Simon Winchester, New York Times Book Review
“Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior who conquered swaths of Central and Eastern Asia in the early thirteenth century, is not commonly considered a paragon of tolerance. But this account of the laws and customs of his court presents a figure who not only believed in freedom of religion but pioneered its implementation. Faced with unifying an empire that encompassed numerous warring religions, the Mongols crafted policies that, Weatherford argues, influenced the architects of the U.S. Constitution…Analysis of Khan’s thought bolsters the claim, and adds a welcome dimension to a misunderstood figure.”
— The New Yorker
“It's an unexpected connection, that of Genghis Khan — one of the bloodiest, most ruthless imperialists the world has ever seen — and the concept that people, including and perhaps especially conquered populations, should be allowed to practice the religion of their choice. This idea, born of the wily Mongol's shrewd perception that the gift of religious liberty could extend the life of his empire far longer than enforced conversion, in turn influenced generations of thinkers, including the American Founding Fathers and, in particular, Thomas Jefferson.” — Chicago Tribune
“Few contemporary writers have Weatherford’s talent for making the deep sweep of history seem vital and immediate.”
— Washington Post
"Weatherford tells the gripping story of how a man rose from nothing to control almost all the known world. That the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, the ultimate self-made man, was also the founder of religious liberty is only one of many surprises in this well-researched and well-written book. Through meticulous scholarship, Jack Weatherford has found tangible echoes of the Founding Fathers’ promotion of complete religious tolerance in the thinking of Genghis Khan.”
— Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon
“Genghis Khan is best remembered by Voltaire’s description: a ‘cruel tyrant King of Kings’, who butchered and brutalised his way across the medieval world. But in this elegant, original and scrupulously researched book, Jack Weatherford makes the case for a Mongolian warlord as first mover behind the First Amendment freedoms millions of Americans enjoy today. Bold, compelling and tautly argued, this is another fine study of a subject Weatherford knows better than anyone else writing today.”
— Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets
“Jack Weatherford returns to Genghis Khan and offers a startling conclusion: that the Western tradition of secularism in fact was enhanced by the religious tolerance of the great Mongolian warlord. An engaging, well-researched—and counter-intuitive—intellectual odyssey.
— Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution/Stanford University and author of Carnage and Culture
“After consolidating two civilizations — and subjects from several faiths — under his rule, Khan realized religious tolerance was crucial to keeping his empire intact.” – The Editors of the New York Times Book Review, paperback row
"An engrossing history that sheds further light on a figure the West has long regarded as the ultimate barbarian."
-Booklist (starred review)
"Weatherford's study of 13th-century Mongolia reveals how Genghis harnessed the power of religion to rule the largest empire the world has ever known, and draws parallels to religious extremism today."
—Publisher's Weekly, Top 10 History Titles
Library Journal
09/01/2016
With this latest work, Weatherford (Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World) exhaustively explores the nontraditional philosophy of Genghis Khan (1162–1227). Instead of instituting a more traditional ruler-sanctioned model, Khan allowed his conquered subjects (nomadic tribes in Central Asia and the Caucasus) the freedom to continue practicing their own religion. This is a truly distinct worldview, as Weatherford asserts, given the religious fervidness of the Middle Ages. The author then suggests a link between Khan's ideas and those in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which pertains to freedom of religion. Weatherford uses the discovery of books about Khan in Thomas Jefferson's personal library as a launching point to suggest that Jefferson was directly influenced by Khan's thinking while he drafted the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps, as Weatherford suggests, we can learn a lot from this ancient despot. VERDICT This sound examination of Khan, his methods of rule, and his views on religious tolerance presents a valid and welcome addition to scholarship on the subject. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/16.]—Brian Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM
Kirkus Review
2016-08-03
Even history’s most famous conqueror had a soft side.An acclaimed expert on Mongolia, Weatherford (The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire, 2010, etc.) introduces readers to a Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227) not discussed in most history books. Though he was unquestionably a ruthless and violent conqueror, the author wants readers to see his subject as a thoughtful leader marked by extraordinary forethought and wisdom, paired with a religious personality. Among Weatherford’s most startling revelations is that, centuries before John Locke and similar thinkers, Genghis Khan believed in and promoted religious tolerance within his great empire. Early in the book, the author does an admirable job explaining the physically harsh and brutal life into which Temujin—the name of the future Khan—was born and raised. Readers may grow to feel empathy for the young and unlikely future ruler, until fratricide and other acts of violence quickly taint his image. Founding the nation of Mongolia in 1206 with 1 million followers, Genghis Khan showed early wisdom in deciding to bring the written word to his empire, and he set about having scribes put the Mongolian spoken language into writing. Military success led to vastly increased landholding, and his empire grew. Weatherford details his conquest of China and then of Muslim lands to the west. Throughout, Genghis Khan considered himself “the whip of heaven,” chosen to bring order and justice to a troubled world. This included a solemn religious duty: “As heaven’s representative on earth, he felt it was his duty to examine the religions of the people he had conquered to determine what they were doing incorrectly and to correct their errors.” As he aged, however, Genghis Khan transformed from judge to student, as he spent more time learning about the religions of his conquered lands and incorporating their finest points into his administration and lawmaking. An intriguing, eye-opening spiritual biography.
