Jack Weatherford is an anthropologist and author of New York Times bestselling Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. He has spent over 25 years exploring Mongolia and its history, and his writing on the Mongol Empire has transformed our understanding of its long legacy. Jack Weatherford is the retired DeWitt Wallace Chair of Anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota, and he is the only foreigner ever inducted into the Order of Chinggis Khaan, Mongolia's highest national honour. His other books include The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Genghis Khan and the Quest for God, Indian Givers: How Native Americans Transformed the World, and The History of Money.

CONTENTSPreface: 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 FavouritesResearch and SourcesNotesIndex