First published 2024
Kublai Khan faces an impossible challenge. His grandfather Genghis Khan conquered vast territories but never crossed water. Now Kublai has claimed the Chinese throne and established the Yuan dynasty, but he rules a land-based empire surrounded by seas. Early naval defeats sting deeply. Chinese admirals doubt this Mongol outsider understands maritime warfare. Kublai brings Islamic mathematicians to court and watches them develop new navigation methods. He studies Chinese shipbuilding techniques and learns how massive fleets can project power across oceans. Slowly, his forces master technologies that let them transport armies, supplies, and weapons over distances European navies cannot imagine. Jack Weatherford draws on Mongol sources and decades of cultural research to show how one ruler grasped a simple truth about power. The man who controls waterways controls trade, wealth, and the future itself.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, military-history, naval-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, underdog
Setting: China, Yuan Dynasty
Period: Medieval
368 pages · Hardcover · Bloomsbury Continuum