Friday, June 20, 2008

In a manner reminiscent of Jenghis Khan...

I want to see this: Mongol, the first in a trilogy about the life of Genghis Khan. If Roger Ebert gives his imprimatur, I'm willing to truck off to see it. Victor?

One of the epochal figures in human history, Genghis unleashed a typhoon upon the world. Some parts of the world have never recovered from what he wrought, and some only partially. Actually beating the Mongols in battle was something to boast about for approximately ever, and only a handful did before the 15th Century (the Egyptian Mamluks, the Russians). And their enemies were well-advised to defeat them or surrender without a fight because the alternative was a Carthaginian peace. What saved their enemies more often was the practice of recalling all of the subordinate leaders of the Great Khan to Mongolia upon the death of the Khan. That's almost certainly what saved central Europe from devastation in the 1240s.

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