Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada - Softcover

Delgado PhD, Executive Director James P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520265858 ISBN 13: 9780520265851

Publisher: University of California Press, 2010

Synopsis

In 1279, near what is now Hong Kong, Mongol ruler Khubilai Khan fulfilled the dream of his grandfather, Genghis Khan, by conquering China. The Grand Khan now ruled the largest empire the world has ever seen - one that stretched from the China Sea to the plains of Hungary. He also inherited the world's largest navy - more than seven hundred ships. Yet within fifteen years, Khubilai Khan's massive fleet was gone. What actually happened to the Mongol navy, considered for seven centuries to be little more than legend, has finally been revealed. Renowned archaeologist and historian James P. Delgado has gone diving with a Japanese team currently studying the remains of the Khan's lost fleet. Drawing from diverse sources - sunken ships, hand-painted scrolls, drowned bodies, and historical and literary records - in this gripping account that moves deftly between the present and the past, Delgado pieces together the fascinating tale of Khubilai Khan's maritime forays and unravels one of history's greatest mysteries: What sank the great Mongol fleet? This title is copublication of Douglas & McIntyre.

About this title

Review:

"Engaging and highly readable . . .Delgado writes with an attractively direct style. . . . This trim volume, covering only a small part of a vast subject, is . . . a valuable addition to the shelves."-- (03/28/2009)

"Splendor galore . . . This consistently interesting, well-organized book addresses more than its title suggests. [It] will appeal to anyone interested in modern underwater archaeology or Asian, maritime, and military history-who, after all, isn't amazed that Khubilai's second fleet was the largest ever assembled until Operation Overlord some 650 years later?"-- (09/01/2009)

"[Delgado] writes so well, on such a human level. He makes history come alive."-- (04/20/2011)

"This is a well-written and valuable book exploring an area of scholarship that is still in its infancy in Asia."--China Review International (07/25/2012)

Book Description:

The true story of history's greatest naval disaster - the destruction of Khubilai Khan's immense armada, the largest fleet the world had ever seen, by a legendary act of divine intervention: the kamikaze.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0520265858
• ISBN 13: 9780520265851
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240