About this item
From the author of the bestselling The Dangerous Book for Boys He was born Temujin the son of a khan raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe Temujinrsquos young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts the betrayal of his father by a neighboring tribe and the abandonment of his entire family cruelly left to die on the harsh plain But Temujin enduredmdashand from that moment on he was driven by a singular fury to survive in the face of death to kill before being killed and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon Through a series of courageous raids against the Tartars Temujinrsquos legend grew And so did the challenges he facedmdashfrom the machinations of a Chinese ambassador to the brutal abduction of his young wife Borte Blessed with ferocious courage it was the young warriorrsquos ability to learn to imagine and to judge the hearts of others that propelled him to greater and greater power Until Temujin was chasing a vision to unite many tribes into one to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of a thousand warhorses to subject unknown nations and even empires to his will.
About the Author
I was born in the normal way in 1971, and vaguely remember half-pennies and sixpences. I have written for as long as I can remember: poetry, short stories and novels. It's what I always wanted to do and read English at London University with writing in mind. I taught English for seven years and was Head of English at St. Gregory's RC High School in London by the end of that period. I have enormous respect for those who still labour at the chalk-face. In truth, I can't find it in me to miss the grind of paperwork and initiatives. I do miss the camaraderie of the smokers' room, as well as the lessons where their faces lit up as they understood what I was wittering on about. My mother is Irish and from an early age she told me history as an exciting series of stories - with dates. My great-grandfather was a Seannachie, so I suppose story-telling is in the genes somewhere. My father flew in Bomber Command in WWII, then taught maths and science. Perhaps crucially, he also loved poetry and cracking good tales. Though it seems a dated idea now, I began teaching when boys were told only girls were good at English, despite the great names that must spring to mind after that statement. My father loved working with wood and equations, but he also recited 'Vitai Lampada' with a gleam in his eye and that matters, frankly. I've always loved historical fiction as a genre and cut my teeth on Hornblower and Tai-Pan, Flashman, Sharpe and Jack Aubrey. I still remember the sheer joy of reading my first Patrick O'Brian book and discovering there were nineteen more in the series. I love just about anything by David Gemmell, or Peter F. Hamilton or Wilbur Smith. I suppose the one thing that links all those is the love of a good tale.That's about it for the moment. If you'd like to get in touch with me leave a comment in the forum or you can tweet me @Conn_Iggulden. I'll leave it there for the moment. If you've read my books, you know an awful lot about the way I think already. There's no point overdoing it.Conn Iggulden
