Books: First Rulers of Asia

THE MONGOL EMPIRE (581 pp.) — Michael Prawdin — Macmillan ($8).

With Christendom embroiled in the Fifth Crusade, A.D. 1221, heartening dis patches reached Pope Honorius III : "A new and mighty protector of Christianity has arisen. King David of India. . . has taken the field against the unbelievers." But the Vatican's information proved faulty; "King David" turned out to be Genghis Khan, and his Mongol empire was to spread terror on the flank of Eu rope for the next two centuries.

The Mongol Empire, which tells the story of Genghis Khan and the...

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