Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

"A multitude of rulers is not a good thing,
Let there be one ruler, one king"

“Homer; The Iliad”

That is indeed a very powerful statement from The Iliad; taking cues from this statement is a book written about enigmatic founder and ruler of the largest contiguous empire in the history of mankind; none other than Genghis Khan himself.

Despite all the grandiose war campaigns and conquests made throughout his life, it surprises me to see that even the Great Khan himself came from a harsh and strained beginning. A boy casted out from life of brotherhood together with his family after his father's unfortunate end. Death tinged with complot by ruler of another ancient empire to keep the tribes separate and at war with each other.

Temujin (as The Khan was known before he took the title of the Khan) was forced to live in exile together with his abandoned family and had to eke his living based on his wits and survival instincts alone.

He not only managed to survive but also emboldened his move and secure alliances with the loose tribes across the wilderness as he arranged his final check piece and head towards his arch nemesis; The Empire of China.

Though this book is about Temujin/Genghis Khan during his younger days, this book is well written as it encompassed life and perspectives of people around him as well.

The next book in this Genghis series is called "Lords of The Bow".

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) None that I can think of.

Pros:
1) True-like description of Temujin/Genghis Khan and the people around him.
2) Learnt that it takes a whole lot of sacrifices to achieve such greatness as Genghis.
3) Another lesson in life. War is never a great thing. Both the winner and the vanquished suffer the same amount of torture in their claim to victory.