Asian Trips - The Mongol Art of War
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Manufacturer: Westholme Publishing
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.009517
EAN: 9781594160462
ISBN: 1594160465
Label: Westholme Publishing
Manufacturer: Westholme Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 232
Publication Date: 2007-05-31
Publisher: Westholme Publishing
Studio: Westholme Publishing
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Editorial Reviews:
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"They razed cities to the ground, burnt woods, pulled down castles, tore up the vine trees, destroyed gardens, and massacred the citizens and husbandmen; if by chance they did spare any who begged their lives, they compelled them, as slaves of the lowest condition, to fight in front of them against their own kindred."--Matthew Paris recounting the devastation of Poland and Hungary in 1240 During the thirteenth century, Mongol armies under Chinggis Khan and his successors established the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching across Asia and into eastern Europe. Contemporary descriptions of their conquests have led to a popular misconception that the Mongols were an undisciplined horde of terrifying horsemen who swept over opponents by sheer force of numbers. The Mongol army actually used highly trained regiments led by brilliant tacticians, such as Subutai, that carried out planned and practiced maneuvers. It was the strength, quality, and versatility of the Mongol military organization, not unchecked ferocity, that made them the pre-eminent warriors of their time. In The Mongol Art of War, historian Timothy May overturns myths and misunderstandings that distort our understanding of Mongol warfare, and demonstrates that the armies of Chinggis Khan had more in common with modern ones than with the armies of ancient Rome and those of the medieval kingdoms they confronted. Describing the make-up of the Mongol army from its inception to the demise of the Mongol Empire, the author examines the recruitment, weaponry, and training of the Mongol warrior. He also analyzes the organization, tactics, and strategies the Mongols used, how they adapted to fighting in different conditions and terrain--such as using harsh winter weather to their advantage--and overcame a variety of opponents by steadily changing and adopting new tactics and modes of combat.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Little Typos Here and There
Comment: I only skimmed through this book at the bookstore...seems a fairly standard chronicle of rather common knowledge to my fifteen minutes' impression...what struck me immediately was how little typos were littered here and there, starting from the back dust jacket, and even in the very first few introductory paragraphs! Silly things like confusing "you're" with "your," "there" with "their"...that kind of stuff. I'm sure the book is an otherwise fine introduction to the subject, but it's really weird how even a purportedly scholarly work can be subject to linguistic carelessness these days, in the age of internet culture....
Customer Rating:
Summary: Detailed Descriptions of Mongol Tactics and Practices
Comment: This is a great title written at a very lively pace. Anyone interested in military or world history will appreciate all the details and lesser-known facts, as well as the more traditional narrative passages and descriptions of individual Mongol leaders like Hulegu Khan and Subudai. The description of the infamous sacking of Baghdad in the 1250s is also very well done.
There is a lot to like about The Mongol Art of War. It is written, for the most part, from the ground up and gives great detail as to what individual Mongol soldiers carried with them, the weapons they used, the mounts they traveled on, and their daily tasks. The text is never dry or dull and the pace keeps the reader interested throughout. Great book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First in war, for a while
Comment: It is a long stretch to link up the Mongol military apparatus of the 13th century with General Heinz Guderian's blitzkrieg tactics of 1941, but young historian Timothy May makes it -- although it might have been more cogent to have drawn the line from Genghis Khan to the combined arms tactics used by the Red Army (and, less impressively by the Americans and British) to defeat the Germans.
The book's publishers seem to have aimed it at readers who have never learned anything about the Mongols. From the dust jacket: "Contemporary descriptions of their conquests have led to a popular misconception that the Mongols were an undisciplined horde of terrifying horsemen who swept over opponents by sheer force of number." In other words, a furor Mongoliensis to match the furor Teutonicus that overwhelmed the western Romans.
Modern scholars have held no such misconceptions. The discipline and flexibility of stratagem of the Mongols was well understood long before young May began his dissertation at Madison. But by mastering several of the many languages that records of the Mongols have come down in, May has usefully expanded and refined our view.
Genghis (or as May irritatingly spells it Chinggis) was not an innovator but an organizer. He inherited steppe warfare methods, taking advantage of hardy ponies and powerful bows to range far and quickly against opponents who were, usually, slower footed. But Genghis usually (not always) beat other steppe formations.
May emphasizes the discipline Genghis imposed -- ruthlessly -- which allowed him to divide his forces and send out generals who were given specific strategic objectives (like, conquer Baghdad) but left alone to figure out how to do it.
With any other medieval army, an independent general would soon set up as an independent political force, but this did not happen as long as Genghis lived. Later, what on paper should have been an admirably democratic and flexible method of choosing successors failed completely. The empire was left in the hands of women regents and soon split up, like Alexander's and many another.
Genghis not only tamed his warrior aristocrats, he allowed for commoners to rise;and he provided a regular organization (by tens, a borrowed idea) and intense and uniform training.
This allowed him to divide his forces, which May uncritically admires, for "keeping his enemies off balance."
There is not a word about the universal maxim of concentration of forces. Genghis' method could work, so long as he had a clear advantage in mobility, which he always did, and better intelligence so that he could concentrate his forces at need, which he did not always have.
Isolated Mongol armies were sometimes defeated in detail, notably by the Mamelukes, who May considers the only warriors of the age who were individually better fighters than the Mongols. But he notes that the Mamelukes never had to face the entire Mongol army.
The Mongols were not, unlike European feudal knights, scornful of alien technique. They adopted siege engines, explosives and even learned how to run a navy, mostly from the Chinese.
What they never did was develop a theory of statecraft apart from warcraft. Originally just bandits, success went to their heads and they decided they had been ordained to rule the world. For what purpose, other than loot, was never explained.
Thus, the Mongols formed the biggest but one of the briefest empires history has ever known.
In modern terms, May describes them as like the German army of 1940-41, with a hard-hitting striking force that penetrated an enemy zone, leaving less mobile forces to mop up. This was spectacularly unsuccessful in Russia in 1941, as the Germans never had enough infantry to do the mopping up and managed to lose nearly a million casualties without capturing any important objective.
What May says the Mongols did is rather different from what he describes them as doing. The Red Army used a combined, balanced force of infantry, tanks and artillery to methodically reduce entire nations, and this is closer to what the Mongols did (despite not having any equivalent of field artillery), especially in China.
The illustrations show today's Mongol army in 13th c. armor and arms, duplicating the formations of tens of their ancestors, amusingly like Civil War re-enactors in the United States.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Rekindles Interest - The Art of War Mongolian Style
Comment: This is a readable and well-researched book. It moves fast and is rich with facts. I even enjoyed reading the chapter notes in the back.
"The Mongol Art of War" covers the years 1185-1265 and the leaders Chinggis (Genghis) Kahn through Khubilai (Kubla) Kahn. In all it took the empire only 80 years to conquer a vast range from Mongolia and China in the East to Russia and Persia in the West. Along the way the Mongols mastered the art of Steppe warfare including discipline and logistics, and showed a willingness to adapt and learn from their enemies including how to conduct siege warfare. The book includes a thought provoking discussion of similarity of Mongolian war tactics with war tactics in World War II especially Blitzkrieg.
Timothy May's passion for the Mongol war machine makes the book factual and fast-paced. He tells the 'bottom line' of Mongol rise and expansion in the first chapter, then explains the details of how they did it in the remaining eight.
This history is a surprising illustration that turns the tables on thinking of Mongols as uneducated barbarians. They had the ability to master themselves and logistics, and then to further learn and adapt from their campaign experiences. They were masters of communication, espionage and (where needed) deceit. These were some of the real reasons behind their empire's success.
I find it thought provoking to wonder at the end of the book: What would it have taken for Chinggis to assure continuity of his empire through time (past his lineage's death) in the same manner that he mastered its continuity in space (breadth). May's book rekindles interest and awareness of the contribution of the Mongol empire to the history and growth of Asia and East Europe culture.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First-Rate Work
Comment: This is an excellent book on an interesting culture. I will recommend this learned and jargon-free work to others.
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