Nearly every aspect of our world -- borders, political philosophies, technology, warfare, commerce, clothing, art, literature, language, and music -- bears the indelible mark of Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire. Here is a startling true history of how one extraordinary man from a remote corner of the world created an empire that led the world into the modern age. The name Genghis Khan often conjures the image of a relentless, bloodthirsty barbarian on horseback leading a ruthless band of nomadic warriors in the looting of the civilized world. But the surprising truth is that Genghis Khan was a visionary leader whose conquests joined backward Europe with the flourishing cultures of Asia to trigger a global awakening, an unprecedented explosion of technologies, trade, and ideas. In Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford, the only Western scholar ever to be allowed into the Mongols' "Great Taboo"--Genghis Khan's homeland and forbidden burial site -- tracks the astonishing story of Genghis Khan and his descendants, and their conquest and transformation of the world. - Jacket flap.

A re-evaluation of Genghis Khan's rise to power examines the reforms the conqueror instituted throughout his empire and his uniting of East and West, which set the foundation for the nation-states and economic systems of the modern era.