Storm from the East : from Ghenghis Khan to Khubilai Khan / Robert Marshall.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-251) and index.

1. Birth of a Nation -- 2. From China to the Caspian Sea -- 3. The Promise Fulfilled -- 4. The Invasion of Europe -- 5. From Prester John to Armageddon -- 6. Missions to Tartary -- 7. Mongol Crusaders -- 8. Khubilai Khan and China -- 9. Decline and Fall -- Dynastic Table.

In the middle of the thirteenth century, while Europe was still a patchwork of feudal states, there emerged from the East a vast empire that eventually spanned the breadth of Asia. Storm from the East, and the television series which it accompanies, dramatically describes how the Mongol Empire was forged under the banner of one of the greatest generals in history - Genghis Khan - and ruled by men who, just a generation before, had been simple nomadic tribesmen.

It tells of some of the greatest military conquests in history, and brings to life such characters as the great Khubilai Khan who unified China and became a patron of the arts before the Empire disintegrated in the fourteenth century.

The scope of the Mongol conquests astounds the imagination. The Mongol armies swept out of the Eastern steppes, conquering all before them: China, Persia, Russia and eastern Europe all came under Mongol rule. Just forty years after they had crossed the River Danube, the Mongols were launching an invasion of Japan.

Out of these breathtaking military successes, there developed a sophisticated imperial government that brought stability to Asia, encouraged religious and racial tolerance, and fostered international trade.

Storm from the East describes how, through the expansion of Empire, the East confronted the West, shattering forever the West's Eurocentric view of the world. The Mongol Empire shaped the political contours of modern Asia and, in the process, created the idea of one world for the first time in history. Illustrated throughout in colour, Storm from the East will transform our image of the 'nomadic barbarian' into one of amazement at the extraordinary achievements of the Mongol hordes.