The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410

In the thirteenth century, a dynamic and expansive Catholic Christendom, which had been free of major attack from its steppe frontier for over two hundred years, was confronted by a new and alien power in the shape of the vast empire of the advancing Mongols.

Despite the devastation of Hungary and Poland in 1241-2 and ongoing hostilities in Eastern Europe, the advent of the Mongols appeared to offer the West new opportunities. Historically, the failure to exploit these opportunities ¿ by not allying with the Mongols in the Near East against the Muslims, or by not converting the Mongols to Christianity ¿ is usually blamed on the West. This book demonstrates that such possibilities were illusory.

Written in a lively and accessible style, The Mongols and The West reassesses relations between the Catholic West and the Mongols from the first appearance of Chinggis Khan¿s armies on Europe¿s horizons in 1221 to the death of Temür or Tamerlane (1405) and the battle of Tannenberg (1410), across the spheres of diplomacy, missionary endeavour and trade. In particular, it:

· evaluates the impact of Mongol-Western contacts on the West¿s knowledge of the world through to the voyages of Columbus and Cabot

· provides a close study of relations with the Golden Horde in Eastern Europe down to the early 15th century

· investigates Western dealings with Temür, the last ¿Mongol¿ conqueror to figure as a potential ally against the Muslims

· re-examines the failure of the Catholic missionaries to win over the Mongols to Christianity

Peter Jackson is Professor of Medieval History at Keele University. He is editor of The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods (1986); translator and joint editor of The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck (1990); author of The Delhi Sultanate: a political and military history (1999) and of numerous articles on the Mongols, the Crusades and the eastern Islamic world in the Middle Ages.

The Mongols had a huge impact on medieval Europe and the Islamic world.

This major new study from the leading historian in the field reassesses relations between the Catholic West and the Mongols from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries.

• Huge popular interest due to the success and violence of the Mongol empire and the resonance of the like of Genghis Khan
• The first major study of the Mongols in two decades: will become the definitive book
• Major appeal to academics and readers interested in relations between medieval Christian Europe and non-Christian world, the history of the crusades, and in medieval European history in general
• Assesses the impact of Mongol-Western contact on the West's knowledge of the world down to the voyages of Columbus and Cabot
• Unlike previous literature on these contacts, it provides a close study of relations with the Golden Horde in Eastern Europe down to the early 15th century
• Investigates Western dealings with Temur (Tamerlane), the last 'Mongol' or 'Tartar' conqueror to figure as a potential ally against the Muslims
• Surveys Western European Commercial operations in the Mongol world

Peter Jackson is Professor of History, University of Keele and author of many books, including 'The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History' (CUP 1999).