Kublai Khan: Khan of Mongol, Emperor of China was such a fun and quick read!

This volume is part of the vast collection of concise historical and biographical works that can be read or listened to in just 60 minutes from in60learning.

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

I'll admit it, when I went into this read, I was expecting it to be a little dry. However, this read much easier than a textbook!

I had so much fun reading this and learning more and Kublai Khan. This volume covered the time before he became emperor when the families would do anything to get their family member into position, what Kublai Khan was like when he was emperor, all of the wonderful things he did for his empire, and how the empire flourished in the arts and sciences, along with the general economy, and ended with the death of his favorite wife and son, soon followed by his own death.

I loved learning that Kubali Khan ruled with compassion, that he created charitable programs to help those in need, that he showed respect for the great religions of the medieval world, and that he helped his region become more literate.

Each chapter began with a quote that would be related directly to something that would come up soon in that chapter. I love it when things like this make use of that! But of course, I'm also just a sucker for quotes in general!

Too much of history in textbooks seems to be glossed over, the authors sugarcoating quite a bit of it. I really appreciated that this volume didn't hold back! For example:

The Mongols were ruthless. They impaled the inhabitants
until the cold stones ran warm with the blood of slain men.

One of my favorite sections was the bit on explosives and crossbows! I always find it so interesting to see how people fought battles in the past. The Thunder-Crash Bombs sound absolutely terrifying:

"They were made of cast iron and filled with gunpowder.
They also had lit fuses connected to them."

My final thoughts:
Definitely an interesting read! I can't wait to check out more from this collection.