“What are the best books about Genghis Khan?” We looked at 86 of the top Genghis Khan books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 15 titles, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Genghis Kahn” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 50+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!

Top 15 Books About Genghis Khan

15 .) Genghis Khan written by R. P. Lister

Lists It Appears On:

• Mongolia Book Service
• Softonic

This is an account of the early life of Genghis Khan, considered to be the most fearsome warrior of all time. The book covers the young Khan’s daring conquests up until his elevation as Ruler of the Steppes in 1206. There are also genealogical tables tracing the familial descent of Genghis Khan.

14 .) Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men written by Harold Lamb

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Mongolia Book Service

13 .) Genghis: Lords of the Bow written by Conn Iggulden

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Softonic

Genghis unites Mongol tribes to cross the Gobi Desert and fight the Chin – gleaming cities, soaring walls, and canals. Laying siege to one fortress after another, Genghis cunningly crushes each enemy differently, overcoming moats, barriers, deceptions, and superior firepower—until his army calls the Emperor in Yenking to kneel.

12 .) Hearing Birds Fly written by Louisa Waugh

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Mongolia Travel Advice

HEARING BIRDS FLY is Louisa Waugh’s passionately written account of her time in a remote Mongolian village. Frustrated by the increasingly bland character of the capital city of Ulan Bator, she yearned for the real Mongolia and got the chance when she was summoned by the village head to go to Tsengel far away in the west, near the Kazakh border. Her story completely transports the reader to feel the glacial cold and to see the wonders of the Seven Kings as they steadily emerge from the horizon. Through her we sense their trials as well as their joys, rivalries and even hostilities, many of which the author shared or knew about. Her time in the village was marked by coming to terms with the harshness of climate and also by how she faced up to new feelings towards the treatment of animals, death, solitude and real loneliness, and the constant struggle to censor her reactions as an outsider. Above all, Louisa Waugh involves us with the locals’ lives in such a way that we come to know them and care for their fates.

11 .) Lonely Planet Mongolia (Travel Guide) written by Michael Kohn

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Mongolia

Let the adventure begin Ride a camel across the sun-scorched Gobi, feast by moonlight at the bottomless lake of Uureg Nuur, and experience traditional archery and wrestling at the Naadam Festival. Escape to the ends of the earth in the footsteps of the first Mongol nomads. All you need is a strong pair of boots and this bestselling guidebook. – Find Your Way – detailed maps and GPS coordinates for hundreds of key sites. – Connect With The Locals and sleep in a ger, Mongolia’s famous felt-tent abode – expanded reviews describe the country’s best ger camps. – Stride Across The Steppes with our inspiring itineraries through the Land of Blue Sky – witness magical monasteries and spectacular ice canyons. – Talk The Talk – our Language chapter makes communication easy. – Get Under The Skin of Mongolia with dedicated Culture and History chapters packed with fascinating insights and little-known facts.

10 .) Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan written by Paula L.W. Sabloff

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Goodreads

Mongolia, a country that evokes romantic curiosity on the part of American readers, has emerged from its former Soviet cocoon. It has achieved independence, democracy, and a twenty-first-century market economy. This book provides factual information about Mongolia and new ways of looking at a historical figure, Genghis Khan, whose ideals of nationhood and democratic principles are in practice now. Modern Mongolia is unique in providing multiple perspectives–Mongolian and American, scholarly and less formal–about the country’s developments in a readable style, richly illustrated with 120 full-color contemporary and archival photographs, both scenic and artifactual. The first chapter provides an overview of Mongolian geography and history to the twentieth century and the author’s personal experience as a teenager during the 1989-90 democratic revolution. Chapter 2, by a Mongolian historian, recounts the exciting changes from Manchu Dynasty feudal society and autonomous theocracy to Communist nationhood and, finally, full independence as a democratic nation. The third chapter, by a cultural historian, describes the effects of historical changes on the daily life of Mongolian nomads–their clothing, family dwellings (gers), and furnishings. Chapter 4, by an American political anthropologist, shows the connection between modern Mongolians’ devotion to democracy and the political ideas of Genghis Khan.

9 .) Mongolia written by Jasper Becker

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Mongolia Travel Advice

The author travels from Peking, across the centre of Asia to Leningrad, encountering a host of characters who enable him to piece together Mongolia’s turbulent history. He uncovers the unique cultural heritage of a country hidden from the West until only recently. Along the way he uncovers Japanese attempts during World War II to place a descendant of Genghis Khan at the head of a new Mongolian state, recounts the horrors of Stalin’s rule when 20 per cent of the population was liquidated and the monasteries were destroyed, discovers the real location of Shangri-La and visits the high mountains of the north where the last surviving shamans summon up the spirits of the dead.

8 .) Moving with the Seasons written by

Lists It Appears On:

• Mongolia
• Nomadic Expedition

This stunning book by Liza F. Carter is a unique portrait of a Mongolian nomadic family. Filled with photographs and information on daily life, Moving with the Seasons: Portrait of a Mongolian Family documents a way of life that is under tremendous pressure to change. The family blends ancient ways of living that have survived since the time of Genghis Khan in AD 1200 with elements of the modern world. The book draws on the author’s experience with a single family to reveal the unique culture of Mongolian nomads and their remarkable capacity to thrive in one of the world’s harshest environments.

7 .) On the Trail of Genghis Khan written by Tim Cope

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Nomadic Expedition

he relationship between man and horse on the Eurasian steppe gave rise to a succession of rich nomadic cultures. Among them were the Mongols of the thirteenth century – a small tribe, which, under the charismatic leadership of Genghis Khan, created the largest contiguous land empire in history. Inspired by the extraordinary life nomads lead, Tim Cope embarked on a journey that hadn’t been successfully completed since those times: to travel on horseback across the entire length of the Eurasian steppe, from Karakorum, the ancient capital of Mongolia, through Kazakhstan, Russia, Crimea and the Ukraine to the Danube River in Hungary. From horse-riding novice to spending months in the saddle, he learnt to fend off wolves and would-be horse-thieves, and grapple with the haunting extremes of the steppe as he crossed sub-zero plateaux, the scorching deserts of Kazakhstan and the high-mountain passes of the Carpathians. As he travelled he formed a close bond with his horses and especially his dog Tigon, and encountered essential hospitality – the linchpin of human survival on the steppe – from those he met along the way. Cope bears witness to how the traditional ways hang in the balance in the post-Soviet world – an era that has brought new-found freedom, but also the perils of corruption and alcoholism, and left a world bereft of both the Communist system upon which it once relied, and the traditional knowledge of the nomadic forefathers. A journey of adventure, endurance and eventual triumph, On the Trail of Genghis Khan is at once a celebration of and an elegy for an ancient way of life.

6 .) The Earth Is the Lord’s: A Tale of the Rise of Genghis Khan written by Taylor Caldwell

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Mongolia Book Service

For Taylor Caldwell’s legions of fans, this novel provides her usual wealth of historical detail and finely drawn characters. The book covers the early life of the great conqueror, focusing primarily on characters: his stern and indomitable mother, the cynical and outcast uncle who educates him, his manipulative wife Bortei, the boyhood friends who become his generals and paladins, and his blood brother Jamuga, who is both his dearest friend and bitterest enemy. Caldwell provides considerable rationale for Genghis Khan’s later spectacular career of conquest. The novel draws a hugely colorful and very detailed portrait of life in Central Asia during the Middle Ages: from nomadic desert tribes, to wealthy and decadent cities like Samarkand, to the decaying empires of China. For lovers of colorful historical fiction, this book is quite a treat!

5 .) The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford written by Jack Weatherford

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Goodreads

Weatherford resurrects the true history of Genghis Khan, from the story of his relentless rise through Mongol tribal culture to the waging of his devastatingly successful wars and the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed.

4 .) The Secret History of the Mongols: For the First Time Done into English Out of the Original Tongue and Provided With Exegetical Commentary written by Francis W. Cleaves (Editor)

Lists It Appears On:

• Mongolia Book Service
• Mongolia Book Service

3 .) The Tiger Queens: The Women of Genghis Khan written by Stephanie Thornton

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Softonic

In the late twelfth century, across the sweeping Mongolian grasslands, brilliant, charismatic Temujin ascends to power, declaring himself the Great, or Genghis, Khan. But it is the women who stand beside him who ensure his triumph…. After her mother foretells an ominous future for her, gifted Borte becomes an outsider within her clan. When she seeks comfort in the arms of aristocratic traveler Jamuka, she discovers he is the blood brother of Temujin, the man who agreed to marry her and then abandoned her long before they could wed. Temujin will return and make Borte his queen, yet it will take many women to safeguard his fragile new kingdom. Their daughter, the fierce Alaqai, will ride and shoot an arrow as well as any man. Fatima, an elegant Persian captive, will transform her desire for revenge into an unbreakable loyalty. And Sorkhokhtani, a demure widow, will position her sons to inherit the empire when it begins to fracture from within. In a world lit by fire and ruled by the sword, the tiger queens of Genghis Khan come to depend on one another as they fight and love, scheme and sacrifice, all for the good of their family…and the greatness of the People of the Felt Walls.

2 .) The Travels of Marco Polo the Venetian written by William Marsden, re-edited

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Mongolia Book Service

1 .) Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World written by Jack Weatherford

Lists It Appears On:

• Amicus Mongolia
• Goodreads
• Mongolia Travel Advice
• Nomadic Expedition

Weatherford resurrects the true history of Genghis Khan, from the story of his relentless rise through Mongol tribal culture to the waging of his devastatingly successful wars and the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed.

The 50+ Additional Best Books About Genghis Khan And The Mongolian Empire

7 Best Genghis Khan Book Sources/Lists