Igor de Rachewiltz (1929–2016)

From the introduction:
"The Mongol conquest was more than merely a Mongol affair. From the start, it was a grand enterprise in which a galaxy of personages from many races and cultures participated, but always under Mongol leadership... The enlistment by the Mongols of so many people of such diverse backgrounds in one grand common enterprise apparently has no historical precedent, and should be counted as one of the main reasons for whatever success was achieved by the Mongols."

The editors say, "in our view, the general atmosphere and main problems of the age can be revealed equally well, if not better, by biographical studies of the leading figures of the period [than by narrative histories]." Thus this "collection of biographies on nearly fifty leading personalities."

One of the great books in Mongol studies.… (lisätietoja)

My complaint with this edition of the Secret History -- unarguably the scholarly edition -- is how frequently, in the notes, he'll say 'this issue has been discussed by [insert names] so I won't comment on those lines.' I'm an amateur Mongolist, at home, and for me, that's an intensely frustrating habit.

I prefer the translation of Cleaves, if only perhaps for its greater art. The notes here... I can't call them exhaustive, because of what he leaves out (see above). Detailed, although, I'd venture to say, more at home in linguistics than in culture study.… (lisätietoja)