Genghis Khan is one of history's immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an ins
piring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Geng
his united warring clans to create a nation and then an empire that ran across m
uch of Asia. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more com
plex religious ideology, justifying further expansion.
Kublai doubled the emp
ire's size until, in the late 13th century, he and the rest of Genghis' 'Golden
Family' controlled one fifth of the inhabited world. Along the way, he conquered
all China, gave the nation the borders it has today, and then, finally, discove
red the limits to growth. Genghis' dream of world rule turned out to be a fantas
y.
