Jack Weatherford (Author)
Published 26 Sep 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 368
ISBN 9781399417730
Imprint Bloomsbury Continuum
Illustrations 5 mono maps and a plate section
Dimensions 234 x 153 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
Description
“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.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Preface: China’s Golden Age on the Sea
Introduction: The Travels of Marco Polo
I: KUBLAI: A PRINCE WITHOUT QUALITIES
1. The Mongols Descend on China
2. Left Standing in the Dust
3. Brothers on Two Continents
4. Möngke Becomes Great Khan and Restarts the Mongol Wars
5. War from the Pacific to the Mediterranean
6. Kublai Awakens
II: KUBLAI TURNS TO THE SEA
7. China’s Great Water Wall
8. An Arms Race Begins with Financing
9. Kublai Builds an Offensive Navy
10. Da Yuan, the Great Beginning
11. Chaos on the Sea of Japan
12. Decadence Before the Deluge
13. Grand Finale of the Great Song
14. Navy Without a Country
III: THE SILK ROAD OF THE SEA
15. Black Wind Over Japan
16. Markets, Money and Murder
17. Mongols Lost in the Jungle, Adrift at Sea
18. If Vietnam Fails, Attack Egypt
19. The Mongol Princess and her Tiger
20. Kublai Completes his Age
IV: THE CALM AFTER KUBLAI AND THE DECLINE
21. Iron Man and the Lotus
22. From Conquest to Commerce
23. Ports of Profit and Pleasure, Poetry and Pretence
24. Rotting Ships, Sinking Currency
25. China Retreats from the Sea
26. Wolves Come During Rain
27. The Empress of China Sets Sail
Epilogue: History Allows No Favourites
Research and Sources
Notes
Index