qWlrulr. -:,. - "r 1_ -t:a. __, _-----;-:. -- *---.*5-- L,Jd aE;wJ: r oooK a calluuTtc \\?]- oI commg ro -..-:.- -. : -.---'. j--::: -- a.--.- erpiains the compiex issues of trib- , Thisbook, if anything, goesfur- terms with her upbringing and her ,1,::.' :.g :, s i:olce of \\'rong:s alism, Kenl-an sleaze and Western , ther: the author is frank about her relationship with her mother but . . --t as a sat-e haven was no acci- compliciry ina way the layreader father's affairs, her mother's tyran- her brave revelations rarely con- ' ::..:. Formeri)- a foreign corre- canunderstand,andevenrenders i ny over the family, their feuds, lies cern herself, or those still alive such for Reuters, the BBC and theMau Mau uprisings and theirpassionate politics. The as her or husband. =;',,:rcient compre- i brother About : t J : a n a.a I T i m e s, the aw ard-win- hensible, most people will carry on , backdrop intermittently takes these people, Things I'ue Been ..::.g \\-rong also has a formidable readingbecausethebookisalsoa i precedence: a tumultuous Iran in Silznt About isperversely very qui- :ack record on recording African really good wh odunit. Guy Dmond, the lead-up to the Islamic et. ZenaAlkayat

The ConquerorSeries Conn lggulden

Harper Collins Part I Rs 395, Part ll Rs over an argument about stolen as he faces capture, is tortured, and quest at the city of Yenking 250. Partlll Rs275 food. The notion that Temujin was even miraculously escapes from a (modern-day Beij ing). Finally, born clenchinga clot of blood in his planned ritual torture, suddenly parttbree,Bones of the Hills, -\ithough "Genghis" resonates bet- hand and had the "cat's eyes" may having an epiphany about starting takes the invasion toregions as far :er. it's actually "Chinggis", con- be part offolklore, but Iggulden's a new hibe. The new Khan as modern Iran and Iraq, as :irms in theafter- story doesn't stray too farfrom the leads his first war, uncovers a Genghis begins to make generals .,rordof Wolf of the Plnins,thefist accepted truth about the man who conspiracy, murders aKhan, and out ofhis sons. part of his historical fiction frilogy forged one of the largest empires in eventually reclaims leadership The bestparts are in the detail about the life of the Mongolian worldhistory. of theWolves. with which the writer lays out war rvarrior conqueror. Also, and since InWolf of the Phins,Iggulden Parttvo,Lords of th.e Bout, sees scenes between cavalries moving the Mongols can'tpronounce the lays out the splendour ofthe harsh the young Khan fu lfil his dream at lightning speed through moun- "k" "haan" sound, ishowthey Mongolian terrain while sketching and unite previously warring tainous tserrains (Genghis is "Khan". *'ould say That's the level a portrait of an athletic and watch- nomadic hibes into one army to known to have attacked over 90 of detail that informs Iggulden's Chinese cities in one year) and fu 1 young Temujin - the "man of declare war against his arch ene- sprawling work, which relies iron", who will soon proclaim him- mies, the Chin. He takes his army deskoying fortifications with little on a heavily historical document self Genghis. Thebulk of thisfirst on an epicjourney, through a series more than trebuchet artillery. Secret History titledThe of tfu part sees Temuj in gain manhood ofsieges that leads to a final con- Iggulden presents Genghis as a Mongols,whose origins are said to character who is at once heroic, but lie in a work commissioned by never godlike. The grovelling, Khan himself. Iggulden added to fawning and servility around the his researchby travelling exten- Khan is at all times accompanied sively in rural Mongolia. by rivalries, conniving and back- Thoughafewnameswere stabbing that also lend this effort changed, events dramatised and its credibility. The Conqueror insignificant details omitted, for SeruZs takes on one of the most the large part, the references in the sweeping tales in history, and nev- novels are close to acknowledged er once relents inpace to leta sense fact. For instance, Temujin, second oftediousness seep in. This is by son of Yesughi, the Khan of the far the best way to hone an interest Mongol "Wolf' hibe, did indeed in a fascinatingera until a movie kill his own elder brother Bekter version is out, atleast.Jaideep Sen

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