The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of EuropeOn Christmas Day 1241 the armies of Batu Khan, founder of the Golden Horde, crossed the Danube while the disunited kingdoms of the West lay at their mercy. The Mongol invasion of Europe was entering its final phase, and it seemed as if all of Christendom was about to be destroyed by the soldiers from Hell.The Devil's Horsemen, based on a wealth of contemporary sources, describes the tactics and training of the finest army the world had ever seen, and tells the story of Subedei Bahadur, the illiterate military genius who brought 20th century warfare to medieval Europe. Remembered today only as savage barbarians, the author shows how the Mongols were in fact formidable soldiers who invented strategies and tactics later adopted to devastating effect by Rommel and Patton.Had the last of the great Khans lived only a few years longer, the largest empire ever known would have stretched not just to the Carpathians and the Euphrates, but as far as the Atlantic Ocean itself. |
