>I'm reading this great book called "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World". In it, Jack Weatherford describes the Mongol defeat and occupation of Baghdad in 1257. It wasn't defeated and occupied again until 2003 by the Brits and US.
>
>Some other neat tidbits:

>- Mongols had the largest ever empire in land mass, stretching from Korea to Poland and Russia to China.

Do you mean "as one single land mass", as I understood the old British Empire to have been the largest ever? (consider it included Canada, India, great parts of Africa, Australia, for starters.

As I understand it:

- didn't they also believe in promotion through the ranks on meritocracy rather than being nobly born?

- Each trooper would have more than one horse so that they could just keep going, changing horses when one got tired. Thus they could cover vast distances very quickly.

- didn't they also use their horses' blood (letting), mixed with yak milk or some such, to supplement their diet when on the move?

- If a town surrendered to them immediately they would be quite merciful but, if it held out to them and lost (which it always did), ooh, they could be buggers!

- when they first invaded E. Europe it was like "Where the hell did these guys come from!?" so rapid and unexpected was their arrival. Suddenly there's an army over the hill.