Kublai Khan; by John Anthony Garnet Man.

One begins to read this book about the famous historical persona from Mongolia, a land of mystery for most of the world and a land that much horrors emanated from for those that experienced the invasions and onslaughts, and the author assures us that the famous Kublai Khan and his much more famous grandfather Chengis Khan (Chingis Khan and Genghis Khan being alternative spellings) were not the murderous figures as they are normally understood but men of ability, thought, and more.

And then he proceeds to give the history of the person and the clan, with all that they and their armies, mostly cavalries, did to the world they touched. Horror it is, unmitigated horror, at every stage almost, considering how many hundreds of thousands were massacred in how many different cities in very diverse parts of the world, only because this clan began with the man who believed he had a divine mandate to rule the world - and his progeny inherited this belief and stuck to it, often when they lacked territory to rule, and had infights amongst the various cousins all progeny of the one Chingis Khan only so one could find supremacy to rule the piece of earth he had chosen to rule. As for descendents of this man, somewhere one has read that they number in millions, with whole villages of central Asia often claiming descent from him.

Not that descriptions of thought and details of administrations lack as far as the life and times of Kublai Khan - and his mother - go, but the constant running theme is war, massacre of cities that do not capitulate immediately, and subsequent taxation of the conquered territory for financing of the future campaigns of the Mongols. Having conquered the territory from Mongolia to Hungary via all of central Asia and much of west Asia, the clan has not enough yet, and gets their nose tweaked only by Egypt due to the change in land; then they - specifically Kublai Khan - turn to China, conquer Tibet and all of China and declare him emperor of China (hence the Chinese claim to Tibet and genocide of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans with deliberate settling of Tibet by Han race from faraway east coast, all because if Kublai Khan was Chinese emperor he must be Chinese and not Mongolian, according to Chinese logic; by this logic Hanover could very well claim US and all the rest of English colonies!); and yet this is not enough, he must then turn to Japan and think about what next.

There are explicit details of how many thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands, massacred in what city, from Baghdad, and Nishapur (which translates as City of Night, in Sanskrt; so it probably was so prosperous a metropolis it need not sleep at night to save on oil for lamps) in Persia to various cities in China and Japan. But the horror of the whole Mongol mentality is reflected in the mere detail of administrative time when they are of the firm opinion that farmers and peasants should be simply driven out - no matter if they starve by millions - from their land, and the land turned to pasture for the horses of Mongolians, since Mongolian horses are more precious then humans of other races and nationalities.

Not that Chinese lack horrors to match - the explicit descriptions of their weapon sophistication leaves merely scientific progress as gap from then until now, with their not only explosives knowledge and usage for war but also chemical and biological weapons.

No wonder it takes so long to read this - it takes long to overcome the horror of various accomplishments of Mongols to be able to pick it up again and go on with the next part!

And Chinese solution to the shame of conquest of China by Mongolia is simple - declare the Mongolian emperor of China as a Chinese, claim his conquests as Chinese territory, and simply never mention any of the persons of any of the other races that contributed to the glory of China, such as the architect of the palace Kublai Khan had constructed in Beijing - today's imperial palace in the place is constructed along the same lines, following the same plans and dimensions, according to this author, post the razing of his palace by the successor.

One little detail - the famous wall of China was constructed to keep out other Mongols post Kublai Khan. Thank heavens, or else who knows what other parts of earth China would claim were a part of China!

His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire; by Sugata Bose.

To begin with one does wish the book was written a bit better, but it quickly becomes irrelevant as one gets into the life and persona of this figure so strangely ignored post independence by political rulers of India through decades due to an unbalanced worship of one family, two names and most small or big members of the said family dynasty. This sidelining of most major figures of independence struggle of India is neither new nor unknown, but is a shame nevertheless, and leaves much unknown about these majestic persona and their minds, thoughts and actions. Shame.

Bose is mostly known for having forged together an army, Indian National Army, to fight against the British during wwii. Prior to that all that is known other than his being a patriot and a member of Congress is that he was president of Congress and gave in his resignation due to displeasure of Gandhi who preferred Nehru instead, whom he saw as more malleable and less likely to think independently, whatever the truth of that.

What is not known about Bose is about his extensive writing and deep thought re world politics and economics in context of India and her future - he was fooled by neither communists nor fascists during his extensive sojourns through Europe during early and mid thirties, never mind the impression created (by British, perhaps, but most definitely left so by the post independence rule of Congress), that he befriended the Axis and was perhaps used by them as pawn - nothing could be further from truth.

Congress and generally government of India along with academia would do well to correct these mistakes and lapses about freedom fighters of India who are neither Gandhi nor Nehru by name - this ignoring the great is a shame for those that do it, and stars do not stop shining when someone herds people into a cave like so many sheep.
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As one finishes the story of this towering persona and his role in history of the world and his nation, one has several sensations - one wishes to know a bit more, one is overwhelmed with the gigantic figure who was in person perhaps imposing only due to his inner being (was he tall?) but cared for his people so very much (his embracing was reward enough for all the hardships his soldiers went through on his call); and one is once again wistful about his sudden accidental death, wishing it were not true, wishing someone like him were long lived and changed the course of world history for the better, and of course that of his nation. Would India be divided if he were alive and active in his nation? Perhaps not. And much misery, much strife would then have been avoided.

Last but not the least, did India even extend an invitation, a welcome and a citizenship, to his wife and daughter, post independence? That the woman whom he loved and who loved him enough to live the life she had to under the circumstances - a marriage kept secret, financial hardships galore post his death and during the war - shows her grit and her independence. But if Indian government did not even take steps to invite her, to award her and her daughter - the only child of Subhash Chandra Bose - with a with a citizenship and more, it is a shame to the government of India.
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