New Releases by John Man

A panoramic history of the roots of China and Mongolia’s historic rivalry—and why it matters today. The Great Wall of China—stretching from the arid rises of Gansu province to the cold waters of the Bohai Sea—remains an enduring symbol of Chinese might. And yet for all its grandeur, the Wall also marks a vulnerability: an ever-present reminder of old battlelines and never-ending tension with China’s northern neighbours. Travelling by sacred mountains and along forgotten trade routes, John Man journeys through China and Mongolia, tracing the contours of their uneasy shared histories. From the tumult of the Warring States Period to the present day, Man weaves a thrilling tale of battling warlords, imperial power plays, Soviet interference and contemporary political manoeuvring. Looking to the future of the region, Conquering the North canvasses the still fractious interplay of two rival cultures and the continuing struggle for Mongolian sovereignty as China continues to edge north.

An authoritative and rich history of the remarkable Xiongnu culture—a lost empire which preceded the Mongols and even China itself. The author of landmark histories such as Genghis Khan, Attila, and Xanadu invites us to discover a fertile period in Asian history that prefigured so much of the world that followed. The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 bc they dominated the heart of Asia for four centuries, and changed the world in the process. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see these people as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese identity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their descendants helped destroy the Roman Empire under the leadership of Attila the Hun. We don’t know what language they spoke, but they became known as Xiongnu, or Hunnu, a term passed down the centuries and surviving today as “Hun,” and Man uncovers new evidence that will transform our understanding of the profound mark they left on half the globe, from Europe to Central Asia and deep into China. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, Empire of Horses traces this civilization’s epic story and shows how this nomadic cultures of the steppes gave birth to an empire with the wealth and power to threaten the order of the ancient world.

Best Grandpa in the world notebook 120 Lined Pages 6 x 9 inches Makes a perfect gift for friends ,boyfriend,girlfriend,funs !This Best Grandpa in the world notebook notebook can serve as an all purpose notebook, journal, or diary that is handy for everyday use. You can use it as a school notebook, place to keep your daily to do lists, create grocery lists, keep track of appointments, journal, doodle, keep notes, and much more! This is not just a notebook. It serves as a multi purpose journal notebook with an awesome MATTE cover thatis durable and handy for daily use. MAKE IT YOUR FAVOTITE GIFT Lined pages 120 pages on white paper Perfect for use as a notebook, journaling, list-making, or anything else High quality glossy cover for a professional finish Perfect size at 6"x9"

My Mom Thinks She's In Charge That's So Cute notebook 120 Lined Pages 6 x 9 inches Makes a perfect gift for friends ,boyfriend,girlfriend,funs !This high quality My Mom Thinks She's In Charge That's So Cute notebook can serve as an all purpose notebook, journal, or diary that is handy for everyday use. You can use it as a school notebook, place to keep your daily to do lists, create grocery lists, keep track of appointments, journal, doodle, keep notes, and much more! This is not just a notebook. It serves as a multi purpose journal notebook with an awesome MATTE cover thatis durable and handy for daily use. MAKE IT YOUR FAVOTITE GIFT Lined pages 120 pages on white paper Perfect for use as a notebook, journaling, list-making, or anything else High quality glossy cover for a professional finish Perfect size at 6"x9"

Since the time of the ancient Greeks we have been fascinated by accounts of the Amazons, an elusive tribe of hard-fighting, horse-riding female warriors. Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks.For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world’s greatest river, and named it after them. In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now.Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior queens did indeed exist. In Searching for the Amazons, John Man travels to the grasslands of Central Asia—from the edge of the ancient Greek world to the borderlands of China—to discover the truth about the truth about these women whose legend has resonated over the centuries.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks we have been fascinated by accounts of the Amazons, an elusive tribe of hard-fighting, horse-riding female warriors. Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks. For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world’s greatest river, and named it after them. In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now. Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior queens did indeed exist. In Amazons, John Man travels to the grasslands of Central Asia, from the edge of the ancient Greek world to the borderlands of China, to discover the truth about the warrior women mythologized as Amazons. In this deeply researched, sweeping historical epic, Man redefines our understanding of the Amazons and their culture, tracking the ancient legend into the modern world and examining its significance today.

In this authoritative biography, historian John Man brings Saladin and his world to life with vivid detail in "a rollicking good story" (Justin Marozzi).

LEGENDA SANG PENAKLUK DARI MONGOLIA “Di mana gerangan Jenghis Khan? Ia tidak mati. Inilah yang terjadi: Seorang raja di sebuah negeri nun jauh memiliki putri seelok mentari. Jenghis Khan meminta perawan itu. Sang raja diam-diam berkata pada putrinya: ini sebilah pisau, sangat kecil dan tajam. Sembunyikan di balik pakaianmu, dan kala waktunya tiba kau tahu yang harus kaulakukan. Tatkala Yang Mulia Jenghis berbaring bersamanya, sang putri mengeluarkan pisau itu dan mengebirinya. Jenghis berteriak saat merasakan luka itu. Orang-orang bergegas masuk, namun Jenghis hanya berkata: bawa pergi gadis ini, aku ingin tidur. Jenghis terlelap dan tak pernah bangun dari tidur itu. Tetapi, bukankah Yang Mulia Jenghis akan menyembuhkan dirinya sendiri? Setelah pulih, ia akan terjaga dan menyelamatkan bangsanya" Dongeng rakyat Mongol, diadaptasi dari Owen Lattimore, Mongol Journeys Jenghis Khan adalah tokoh abadi dalam sejarah: pemimpin jenius, pendiri kerajaan darat terbesar dunia—dua kali lipat luas Romawi. Kematiannya yang misterius mempertaruhkan segalanya dalam bahaya, sehingga peristiwa itu tetap dirahasiakan sampai semua ahli warisnya berhasil mengamankan daerah taklukannya. Kerahasiaan menyelubungi dirinya sejak itu. Makamnya yang tak pernah ditemukan, dengan harta karun yang dibayangkan orang berada di dalamnya, terus jadi sasaran keingintahuan dan spekulasi. Di masa kini, Jenghis Khan kerap dianggap momok, pahlawan, dan manusia setengah dewa. Bagi umat Muslim, bangsa Rusia dan Eropa, dia seorang pembunuh massal. Namun di tanah kelahirannya, bangsa Mongol memujanya sebagai bapak bangsa; bangsa China menghormatinya sebagai pendiri dinasti; dan di kedua negara tersebut para pemuja mencari berkahnya. Buku ini lebih dari sekadar ulasan menarik tentang kebangkitan dan penaklukan Jenghis Khan. Penulisnya, John Man, menggunakan pengalaman langsung guna menyingkap pengaruh sang Khan yang terus lestari. Dialah penulis pertama yang menjelajahi lembah tersembunyi tempat Jenghis diperkirakan wafat, dan salah satu dari sedikit orang Barat yang pernah mendaki gunung keramat tempat Jenghis mungkin dimakamkan. Hasilnya, sebuah ulasan memikat tentang sang tokoh serta pelbagai “gairah” yang melingkupinya di masa kini. Dalam legenda, ritual, dan kontroversi, Jenghis Khan memang tak pernah mati.

Genghis Khan is one of history''s immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Genghis united warring clans to create a nation and then an empire that ran across much of Asia. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more complex religious ideology, justifying further expansion. Kublai doubled the empire''s size until, in the late 13th century, he and the rest of Genghis’s ‘Golden Family’ controlled one fifth of the inhabited world. Along the way, he conquered all China, gave the nation the borders it has today, and then, finally, discovered the limits to growth. Genghis''s dream of world rule turned out to be a fantasy. And yet, in terms of the sheer scale of the conquests, never has a vision and the character of one man had such an effect on the world. Charting the evolution of this vision, John Man provides a unique account of the Mongol Empire, from young Genghis to old Kublai, from a rejected teenager to the world’s most powerful emperor.

The definitive history of the ninja, based on a wealth of historical texts, local Japanese sources, and John Man''s own treks across Asia "An immensely entertaining history, packed with splendidly blood-thirsty tales of derring-do, feats of endurance and self-sacrifice." — The Guardian Out of the violent chaos of medieval Japan, a remarkable band of peasants rose to become the world''s most feared warriors—trained to perfect the art of ninjutsu, the deadly union of martial arts and deception. Today, however, these real life ninjas are overshadowed by legend and pop culture caricatures. Could they fly? Climb walls? Make themselves invisible? Drawing on a wealth of historical texts, local Japanese sources, and his own comprehensive treks across Asia, acclaimed author John Man takes us back to the ninjas'' origins in China, through to their heyday in the bloody civil wars that ended with the unification of Japan in 1600. Man also illuminates the twentieth-century reemergence of the Japanese tradition of shadow warfare through the Nakano Spy School—the elite military-intelligence academy that operated as an extensive spy network during World War II—and reveals one former Nakano soldier, Onoda Hiroo, who may be the last surviving ninja. Compelling and absorbing, Ninja reveals at last the fascinating true history behind one of the world''s most enduring legends.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree Kublai Khan lives on in the popular imagination thanks to these two lines of poetry by Coleridge. But the true story behind this legend is even more fantastic than the poem would have us believe. He inherited the second largest land empire in history from his grandfather, Genghis Khan. He promptly set about extending this into the biggest empire the world has ever seen, extending his rule from China to Iraq, from Siberia to Afghanistan. His personal domain covered sixty-percent of all Asia, and one-fifth of the world''s land area. The West first learnt of this great Khan through the reports of Marco Polo. Kublai had not been born to rule, but had clawed his way to leadership, achieving power only in his 40s. He had inherited Genghis Khan''s great dream of world domination. But unlike his grandfather he saw China and not Mongolia as the key to controlling power and turned Genghis'' unwieldy empire into a federation. Using China''s great wealth, coupled with his shrewd and subtle government, he created an empire that was the greatest since the fall of Rome, and shaped the modern world as we know it today. He gave China its modern-day borders and his legacy is that country''s resurgence, and the superpower China of tomorrow.

Recent advances in Compressed Sensing theory has lead researcher to apply these techniques to the design of sampling systems which can sample spectrally sparse signals with a wide bandwidth below the Nyquist rate. Xampling is a framework proposed to design such Sub-Nyquist sampling systems. This work presents results and analysis of simulations of impairments in of such systems. The impacts of hardware impairments, choice of reconstruction algorithm, signal energy dynamic range and channel mismatches on system performance are studied. Results show that if a system is designed with a sufficient number of channels then it may be able to maintain performance despite impairment.

The name ''Samurai'' is synonymous with the ultimate warrior. With their elaborate armour, fierce swordsmanship and code of honour, the samurai have become iconic figures whose influence can still be felt today . From Kurosawa''s epic Seven Samurai to the figure of Darth Vader in Star Wars, to Manga comics and video games, the figure of the fighting samurai still inspires us today. In John Man''s new book we discover the truth behind the legend. From his birth in the shadow of the great volcano Sakurajima, to his glorious death by ritual suicide and disembowelment, Saigo Takamori was the ultimate Samurai leader. His fall brought about the end of hundreds of years of Samurai tradition and in many ways marks the birth of modern Japan. Saigo was a man trapped by paradox: a faithful servant to the emperor, and yet a leader of rebel troops; a mighty Samurai warrior, and also a master of Chinese poetry. His life, and ultimately his death, offer a window into the hundreds of years of culture and tradition that defined the samurai.

The idea behind the alphabet - that language with all its wealth of meaning can be recorded with a few meaningless signs - is an extraordinary one. So extraordinary, in fact, that it has occurred only once in human history: in Egypt about 4000 years ago. Alpha Beta follows the emergence of the western alphabet as it evolved into its present form, contributing vital elements to our sense of identity along the way. The Israelites used it to define their God, the Greeks to capture their myths, the Romans to display their power. And today, it seems on the verge of yet another expansion through the internet. Tracking the alphabet as it leaps from culture to culture, John Man weaves discoveries, mysteries and controversies into a story of fundamental historical significance.

In 1450, all Europe''s books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. The invention of one man - Johann Gutenberg - had caused a revolution. Printing by movable type was a discovery waiting to happen. Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg struggled against a background of plague and religious upheaval to bring his remarkable invention to light. His story is full of paradox: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom, but his invention shattered it; he aimed to make a fortune, but was cruelly denied the fruits of his life''s work. Yet history remembers him as a visionary; his discovery marks the beginning of the modern world.

**A SOURCE FOR MARCO POLO, A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES** Marco Polo''s journey from Venice, through Europe and most of Asia, to the court of Kublai Khan in China is one of the most audacious in history. His account of his experiences, known simply as The Travels, uncovered an entirely new world of emperors and concubines, great buildings - ''stately pleasure domes'' in Coleridge''s dreaming - huge armies and imperial riches. His book shaped the West''s understanding of China for hundreds of years. John Man travelled in Marco''s footsteps to Xanadu, in search of the truth behind Marco''s stories; to separate legend from fact. Drawing on his own journey, archaeology and archival study, John Man paints a vivid picture of the man behind the myth and the true story of the great court of Kublai Khan.

Genghis Khan is history''s greatest conqueror. As a teenager he was an outcast fleeing enemies on a mountain in northern Mongolia, an exile, a nobody. Yet it took only twenty years for Genghis to build the largest land empire in history - four times the size of Alexander''s, twice the size of Rome''s. How did he do it? What lessons does his life reveal about the nature of leadership? What is ''greatness'' in leadership? What traits did Genghis possess exactly? Were they unique, or might some apply in other times and other places - even here and today? In Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan, John Man re-examines the life of Genghis Khan to discover the qualities, characteristics and strategies that made him the great leader that he was. The answers are sometimes surprising. Genghis was far from just the tyrant that history records, but rather a leader of exceptional vision and modernity. And many of the secrets of his success are as valuable and applicable in today''s competitive business world as they were in rallying the Mongol hordes.

John Man travels the entire length of the Great Wall and across two millennia to find the truth behind the legends. Along the way, he delves into the remarkable and complex history of China--from the country''s tribal past, through the war with the Mongols, right up to the modern day when the Great Wall is once more a commanding emblem of China, the resurgent superpower.

The incredible story of the discovery of China''s greatest archaeological treasure, and the history behind the mysterious terra cotta warriors and the emperor who made them.

Originally published: London: Bantam Press, 2004.

Chronicles the life of Attila the Hun, focusing on his conflicts with the Roman Empire, his influence over the history of Europe, his image in the modern world, his reputation for savagery, and other related topics.

"Provides a fresh insight into the sites of some of history's greatest conflicts. By overlaying modern photographs of the battlefield with dramatic reconstructions of ten of the key battles, it compares in a unique way scenes of struggle and heroism with the often pastoral site today"--Page 4 of cover

In intelligent, jargon-free prose, the author takes readers on a colorful tour of the Gobi Desert, from its natural wonders to its conflicts with society. Illustrations.

Shows empires, trade routes, military activity, etc. on all continents ca. 900-1100.