John Man on What The Mongols Did For Us. A talk not to be missed!
Monday, Nov 02, 2015
Don't miss highly regarded author
John Man
at Asia Bookroom
Monday November 2 at 6pm
Building on Genghis Khan's conquests, the Mongols created the world's largest land empire. At its height (about 1290) one family ruled one-sixth of humanity.
With what consequences? To start with, ten of today's Asian and Middle Eastern nations rose from the ashes of the Mongol empire. But John Man's assessment contains several other surprises.
John Man will be in Canberra for just two days don't miss him!
About the author: John Man is an author specializing in Central Asia (in particular Mongolia), north China and Japan, with occasional forays into TV and radio.
After studying languages at Oxford, he did post-graduate courses in the History and Philosophy of Science (Oxford) and Mongolian (School of Oriental and African Studies, London). Training as a journalist with Reuters, he joined Time Life Books, becoming European Editor. In the 1970s he began writing, producing several non-fiction books, including the Penguin Atlas of D-Day and the Penguin Atlas of the Year 1,000.
In the 1990s, he returned to his post-graduate interest in Mongolia. Researching half a dozen books on Central Asia, he has travelled extensively, exploring the Gobi desert (Gobi: Tracking the Desert, 1997), the Great Wall, the valley where Genghis Khan died in north-west China, the Mongolian mountain on which he may be buried, and Xanadu, Kublai Khan’s first capital. Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection is a best-seller in 21 languages. Other books on Mongolia and China include Attila the Hun, Kublai Khan, The Terracotta Army, The Great Wall, and Xanadu (on Marco Polo). The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan combines history and leadership theory.
A more recent interest is Japan. Samurai: The Last Warrior - which took him in the footsteps of Saigo Takamori, the real ‘Last Samurai’ - was followed by Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior (2012). His latest book, The Mongol Empire, was published in June 2014. Xanadu has just been published in the US as Marco Polo, to accompany a 10-part Netflix TV series. His most recent book, Saladin, appeared in April 2015.
He lectures frequently. In TV, he has contributed to BBC and History Channel documentaries on Genghis Khan and Attila. He advised director Sergei Bodrov on the Oscar-nominated feature film Mongol.
When: 6pm on Monday November 2, 2015
Where: Asia Bookroom, Unit 2, 1 - 3 Lawry Place, Macquarie. ACT
RSVP: By the November the 1st, either by phoning 6251 5191 or Email Us
Admission by gold coin donation to the Classrooms in the Clouds
If you can't join us on the 2nd of November and would like to buy a signed copy of The Mongol Empire or Xanadu, let us know as this can easily be arranged.