"I am the flail of god. Had you not committed great sins, god would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."

Genghis Khan's response to the Khwarazmian Empire that killed his diplomats. Over ten million of their people would be butchered by the Mongols in the next two years

I started reading this two seasons ago and stopped because I couldn't visualize all the places in my head without a map of China in front of me at all times. It's not a great book compared to the historical biographies I read. Feels like a hastily written draft rather than a finished product. There are attempts to perform the usual historical-biography flourishes, like ending chapters with an enigmatic sentence and whatnot, but they are so half-hearted that they're more cringey than hair-raising.

Also, what was up with the chapter on Genghis' death? The entire event was written like an afterthought. I was very confused, thinking I missed a couple of pages or something. Anyway, I'll end with a badass anecdote from Hulagu's sack of Baghdad.

"A sober estimate of the fatalities in the siege and sack of Baghdad provides a tally of 90,000 dead... It was said that so many books were thrown into the Tigris that the river, previously red with blood, now turned black with ink and remained that way for several days."

Hulagu imprisoned the Caliph and brought him a plate full of gold, meaning him to eat it. The Caliph replied,

"It is not edible"

"Then why did you keep it? Why did you not use it to pay your soldiers?", asked Hulagu

"It was the will of God", replied the Caliph

"What will happen to you now," said Hulagu, "is also God's will"