The name Genghis Khan often conjures the image of a relentless, bloodthirsty’ barbarian on horseback leading a ruthless band of nomadic warriors in the looting of the civilized world. But the surprising truth is that Genghis Khan was a visionary leader whose conquests joined backward Europe with the flourishing cultures of Asia to trigger a global awakening, an unprecedented explosion of technologies, trade, and ideas. With an empire that stretched from Siberia to India, from Vietnam to Hungary, and from Korea to the Balkans, the Mongols dramatically redrew the map of the globe, connecting disparate kingdoms into a new world order. But contrary to popular wisdom. Mongols were not just masters of conquest, but possessed a genius for progressive and benevolent rule. Genghis Khan was an innovative leader, the first ruler in many conquered countries to put the power of law above his own power, encouraged religious freedom, created public schools, granted diplomatic immunity, abolished torture, and instituted free trade. In Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Weatherford tracks the astonishing story of Genghis Khan and his descendants, and their conquest and transformation of the world. This dazzling work doesn’t just paint an unprecedented portrait of a great leader and his legacy, but challenges us to reconsider how the modern world was made.