The Secret History of the Mongol Queens Audiobook By Jack Weatherford cover art

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire

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The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

By: Jack Weatherford
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
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The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the greatest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving a single tantalizing quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female offspring.”

Only this hint of a father’s legacy for his daughters remained of a much larger story. The queens of the Silk Route turned their father’s conquests into the world’s first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. Outlandish stories of these powerful queens trickled out of the empire, shocking the citizens of Europe and the Islamic world.

At the conclusion of his magnificently researched and groundbreaking narrative, Jack Weatherford notes that the deeds of these Mongol queens inspired great artists from Chaucer and Milton to Goethe and Puccini, and so their stories live on today.

With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Weatherford restores the queens’ missing chapter to the annals of history.

©2010 Jack Weatherford (P)2010 Random House Asia Europe Historical Medieval Politics & Activism Royalty Women World Middle Ages China Thought-Provoking Imperial Japan Middle East Mongolian Empire

Critic reviews

"Uplifting, entertaining history.”—Kirkus Reviews
Fascinating History • Hidden Stories • Soothing Clear Voice • Exceptional Women • Well-researched Content
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My eyes were opened to an unknown world. Am going to check out more on Khan. The narrator A+ , he could read the phone book and make it interesting .

The Things You Learn

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This is an amazing and enthralling book.Even more so the second time I read it.. Thank you.

The Secret HISTORY OF THE MONGOL QUEEN S

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excellent narrator. Great research and history. Thanks for expanding my knowledge of the peoples of this world.

great book.

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I liked thid very much. It brought the subject to life. Delivery was excellent. Story very interesting indeed.

Great History. Comprehensive

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I didn't enjoy as much as his previous book. mainly because he jumped around to much.

A weaker almost fairy-tale rendition.

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What made the experience of listening to The Secret History of the Mongol Queens the most enjoyable?

Robertson Dean took an excellent story, filled with "strange" names and far off places, and made it come alive.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Secret History of the Mongol Queens?

The part where Queen Manduhai falls off her horse when heavily pregnant and her warriors create a human wall and save her.

Which character – as performed by Robertson Dean – was your favorite?

The insights into an ancient culture and ways was my favourite aspect of the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The part where Queen Manduhai falls off her horse when heavily pregnant and her warriors create a human wall and save her.

Any additional comments?

Well worth listening to.

An outstanding "read"

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When you think of the Mongol empire(s), you probably don't think much of the women, other than perhaps as unfortunate fodder for Mongol raiders. That dim view of the women in Mongol history is lost mere hours into this book, which contains many more gems of historical knowledge than I had expected. Excellent read.

A delightful foray into Mongol history.

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What made the experience of listening to The Secret History of the Mongol Queens the most enjoyable?

It was enjoyable to hear historical stories which carry with them a redemptive quality, in that innumerable women and their accomplishments have been lost (often discarded) throughout time. An effort, in some way, to counter that gets my attention and goodwill.

Who was your favorite character and why?

As stated by others, the stories of Queen Mandhuhai are the most entertaining, as set out in the summary.

What does Robertson Dean bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Always a good, clear reading. I have a few other audiobooks by this narrator, such as 1493, and it's always been fine. Though, to be fair, a speed of 1.25x might be needed, as the style is low and slow.

Any additional comments?

I will point out, as stated previously by a critical reviewer, that there are extended periods of time which don't exactly follow the brief of the book, namely dealing with Mongol Queens. Histories are laid out, presumably set in motion by a particular Queen, and then picked up later and expanded by another, but without much, if any, female involvement for stretches. But the overall theme and intention of book is enough to accept these digressions from the big story.

Very compelling history

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Only thing is performance is good, but not as good as previous voices. Some pronunciation I preferred in Making of the Modern World and Quest for God vs this book.

Incredible History

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only listened to the last chapter because I actually own the paperback version of it, but about 20 pages were missing and they were, of course, the LAST 20 pages. couldn't wait to buy another paper copy of the book so i got it here.
I really like the book so of course I like the story, but cant speak for the performance.

Only Listened to the last Chapter

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