John Man Books

What would Genghis have done? Lessons in leadership from history’s most successful (and ruthless) conqueror. Genghis Khan has a very strong claim to be the greatest leader the world has ever seen. As a teenager he was an outcast, fleeing enemies on a mountain in northern Mongolia, an exile, a nobody. Yet it took only twenty years for Genghis to build the largest land empire in history: four times the size of Alexander’s, twice the size of Rome’s. How did he do it? What lessons does his life reveal about the nature of leadership? What is “greatness” in leadership? What traits did Genghis possess exactly? Might they apply in other times and other places — even here and today? John Man re-examines the life of Genghis Khan to discover the qualities, characteristics and strategies that made him the great leader that he was. The answers are sometimes surprising. Far from being just the tyrant that history records, he was a leader of exceptional vision and modernity. And many of the secrets of his success are as useful in today’s competitive business world as they were in rallying the Mongol hordes.

Uses maps and photographs to recount the Allied invasion from June 6, 1944 to the liberation of Paris in September of 1944

'Man does for the reader that most difficult of tasks: he conjures up an ancient people in an alien landscape in such a way as to make them live.' Guardian The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 BC they dominated the heart of Asia for 400 years.

An authoritative and rich history of the remarkable Xiongnu culture—a lost empire which preceded the Mongols and even China itself. The author of landmark histories such as Genghis Khan, Attila, and Xanadu invites us to discover a fertile period in Asian history that prefigured so much of the world that followed. The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 bc they dominated the heart of Asia for four centuries, and changed the world in the process. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see these people as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese identity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their descendants helped destroy the Roman Empire under the leadership of Attila the Hun. We don’t know what language they spoke, but they became known as Xiongnu, or Hunnu, a term passed down the centuries and surviving today as “Hun,” and Man uncovers new evidence that will transform our understanding of the profound mark they left on half the globe, from Europe to Central Asia and deep into China. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, Empire of Horses traces this civilization’s epic story and shows how this nomadic cultures of the steppes gave birth to an empire with the wealth and power to threaten the order of the ancient world.

In this authoritative biography, historian John Man brings Saladin and his world to life with vivid detail in "a rollicking good story" (Justin Marozzi). As the man who united the Arabs and saved Islam from Christian crusaders in the twelfth century, Saladin is the Islamic world's preeminent hero. A ruthless defender of his faith and a brilliant leader, he also possessed qualities that won admiration from his Christian foes. But Saladin is far more than a historical hero. He is a symbol of hope for an Arab world once again divided, an immensely potent icon of religious and military resistance to the West. Saladin explores the life and enduring legacy of this champion of Islam while examining his significance for the world today.

The Great Wall of China is a wonder of the world. Hundreds of thousands of tourists every year take the five-mile journey from Beijing to climb its battlements. It is instantly familiar to millions more from the myriad photographs of this extraordinary landmark.

The idea behind the alphabet - that language with all its wealth of meaning can be recorded with a few meaningless signs - is an extraordinary one. Alpha Beta follows the emergence of the western alphabet as it evolved into its present form, contributing vital elements to our sense of identity along the way.

This work presents specialized knowledge in a more accessible format, catering to nonspecialists and broadening the audience for complex subjects. It aims to bridge the gap between expert information and general understanding, making intricate themes approachable and engaging for readers without a deep background in the field. The book encourages curiosity and learning, providing insights that were previously limited to a select group of specialists.

Genghis Khan is one of history's immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Genghis united warring clans to create a nation and then an empire that ran across much of Asia. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more complex religious ideology, justifying further expansion. Kublai doubled the empire's size until, in the late 13th century, he and the rest of Genghis’s ‘Golden Family’ controlled one fifth of the inhabited world. Along the way, he conquered all China, gave the nation the borders it has today, and then, finally, discovered the limits to growth. Genghis's dream of world rule turned out to be a fantasy. And yet, in terms of the sheer scale of the conquests, never has a vision and the character of one man had such an effect on the world. Charting the evolution of this vision, John Man provides a unique account of the Mongol Empire, from young Genghis to old Kublai, from a rejected teenager to the world’s most powerful emperor.