Defending Heaven

China's Mongol Wars, 1209-1370

By: James Waterson, John Man - Foreword

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Defending Heaven brings together, for the first time in one volume, a complete history of the Jin, Song, and Ming dynasties' wars fought against the Mongols. Lasting nearly two centuries, these wars, fought to defend Chinese civilization against a brutal and unrelenting foe, pitted personal heroics against the inexorable Mongol war machine and involved every part of the Chinese state.

The resistance of the Chinese dynasties to the Khans is a complex and rich story of shifting alliances and political scheming, vast armies and navies, bloody battles and an astonishing technological revolution. The great events of China's Mongol war are described and analyzed, detailing their immediate and later implications for Chinese history.

In this excellent new book, James Waterson tackles this fascinating subject with characteristic verve and skill. Setting the Mongol war in the wider context of China's ancient and almost perpetual conflict with the northern nomads, it sheds light on the evolution of China's military society and the management, command and control of the army by the Chinese state.

©2013 James Waterson; Foreword copyright 2013 by John Man (P)2020 Tantor

Good book, but confusing

Liked the book, but the flurry of names and places with the bad pronunciation confused me.

So informative and beautifully constructed narrative.

This was a wonderful history of a tumultuous period in Chinese history. It’s amazing to realize how technologically forward these cultures were in comparison to their western counterparts. The battles were wonderfully detailed, not so militantly descriptive but in such a way that you felt the terror of the victims and the absolute conquest of the victors. The ins and outs of the imperial courts were a bit hard to follow, but that was just because of the similarity in the key figures names. So my own issue, not the narrator or writing. Beautifully narrated! Highly recommend for those interested in East Asian histories!

Good history book

I love Chinese history books the history is so extensive there's thousands of years to draw from this bill covers about 200 of them and its detailed and easy to understand with just basic knowledge of Chinese or Mongol history

I struggled to keep track of all the names, but I

This could easily be a dry history, but it is instead fascinating and informative, although it does start with list of events and their dates, helpful for putting things in context but dull as a brick to listen to. Once the story gets started the book gets good. Derek Perkins, the narrator of the audiobook is excellent and James Waterson, the writer, is superb, vibrant and personable.

Little color. Need maps.

As the author explains, Chinese historians were disdainful and uninterested in military matters, so there is a shortage of good materials on these wars. The author does a reasonable job with the material at hand, but the book never really grabbed me. The author sees the Mongols as a whirlwind of destruction that shattered China and kept it down for centuries. I am somewhat sympathetic to this view, but the author is too obviously biased. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta saw much of Eurasia and were very impressed with the wealth of Mongol-controlled China. As the author briefly notes toward the end, it is possible that China was destroyed not so much by the Mongols as by the Black Death. We just don’t know. In spite of my criticism, I saw another of the author’s books on sale and bought it. He does have interesting things to say about medieval Eurasian history. The reader does not always pronounce the Chinese words correctly, but he does a reasonable job for a non-specialist. For all I know, a pdf with maps might accompany this book and it would sure be helpful, but I listen to audiobooks when I am out driving or walking. This book might be better on a kindle or hard copy.