Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China - Paperback

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Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China
  • Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China
Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China - Paperback

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China - Paperback

by Jack Weatherford
$18.00
$18.00

Book Overview

"Astonishing...Brings to life a thriving - and rather civilized - empire" - The Telegraph

"sparkles with energy, insight and passion... difficult to put down." Nicholas Morton, BBC History Magazine

Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of dynastic rivalry and innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life.

Kublai Khan is one of history's most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world's largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire.

By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything.

A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever - revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.
ISBN9781399417754
Author Jack Weatherford
PublisherBloomsbury Continuum
GenreBiography and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedMay 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages368
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Biography & Autobiography History Nonfiction

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More by Jack Weatherford

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China - Paperback

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China - Paperback

By Jack Weatherford

About Jack Weatherford

Jack Weatherford is the New York Times bestselling author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World; Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World; The Secret History of the Mongol Queens; and The History of Money, among other acclaimed books. A specialist in tribal peoples, he was for many years a professor of anthropology at Macalaster College in Minnesota and divides his time between the US and Mongolia.

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