The Secret History of the Mongols (Penguin Classics)

Great book, love penguin classics.

This book is amazing. I purchased it in advance of traveling to Mongolia and wanting to know about its history. Highlights:1. Dr. Atwood's introduction to the translation is around 100 pages of fascinating observations and comments regarding the translation.2. Three excellent Mongolia maps spread of 2 pages each. They help follow the Secret History translation, and a wonderful guide once in country.3. Dr. Atwood's 50 page glossary of names is worth the book price alone.4. As a professor myself, I found the 82 pages of Dr. Atwood's notes to the translation most valuable. His insights behind the stories and terms are fascinating stories in themselves.In sum, 100% this is one of the most incredible books that I have read in years because of Dr. Atwood's linguistic expertise (Mongolian, Middle Mongolian and Chinese), decades of knowledge and travel to Mongolia, passion for the topic, and clear writing with explanatory notes.

Book was received as described, brand new condition. The book itself is very insightful and the best there is in terms of Genghis Khan.

I got this book for my aunt who has taken a sudden interest in the Mongolian conquests. I bought it mainly because it was a better price than the out of print Cleaves and Onon versions, both of which I've read. Before giving it to my aunt, I started reading it and decided I needed this version for my library as well, so I ordered another copy.For me, the greatest part of the Atwood version is his introduction and the wonderful footnotes. The explanations are great, but I think I would have liked more details, especially on the recurring characters. I would also have liked more details on the Yuanshi history of the Mongols compared to the Rashid history. I'm also fascinated by the idea that the Secret History in the Yuanshi is the Mongolian language written in Chinese characters. I need to find out more about this. The problem of course is that my classical Chinese is so poor that it will be a painstakingly arduous task to go through the Chinese scholarship.That is why Christopher Atwood has provided such a great service. Another problem that I found however was his spellings of all the Mongolian names, many of which are different from what is seen in other Mongolian English language histories. I still have only glanced at the glossary of names at the back of the book so maybe there will be some explanation there.Anyway great scholarship made available to the general public

Having already read 2 translations of the Mongolian and 1 of the Chinese version, I still couldn't resist this. Atwood's introduction and notes are fantastic--a major work of scholarship, really valuable, and not at all just redoing Igor de Rachewiltz' classic version. A great deal has come out about the book and the Mongol Empire since that one appeared, and Atwood has all the new work. The translation reads very well, in good flowing English, with a good try at reproducing the Mongolian alliteration in verses.The book is a record of Chinggis Khan's life and work ("Genghis" is a European take on a Persian take on "Chinggis"). Alas, much of the book is inaccurate, with dates mixed up and stories sometimes confused. Atwood's notes sort all this out. Even with the errors, it's an amazing record of a man who started out living on wild greens after his father was murdered, and then rose to rule all central Asia, with his sons and grandsons going on to conquer basically all of mainland Asia north of the Indian and Southeast Asian regions, and holding even those in varying levels of tributary status. No empire since has come close to owning so much contiguous area. The worst thing about the Secret History is that it gives no clue how this was done--Chinggis' mix of luck, charisma, and military genius does not really show. The Secret History merely states that he was blessed by Heaven and destined to conquer all, so the book has rather matter-of-fact descriptions of his war bands and later his armies simply going out and conquering.The book is also a sober record of murder, betrayal, wrath, violence, all the things you expect of medieval frontiers. The Mongols started as a peripheral group of forest nomads, grew to a semiperipheral marcher state, then did a perfect Ibn Khaldun maneuver, taking over not just one empire but several. An extreme case of a normal historical process, the nomad or seminomad fringe growing so formidable that they could take over their neighboring empire. My Celtic ancestors would understand, but we kept losing all too often....All in all this is a stunning work, making a classic more accessible to the English-reading world.

Pages are warped

Interesting to a point. I preferred another book that was museum store quality to this one, but glad to have read about 1/2 of it.

came water damaged and visibly warped, won't close all the way and the pages are distinctly damp, overall freaked. I'd return it but I need it now for class