In Mr. Weatherford’s book, he only devotes parts of six pages to the black plague. There is a small excerpt that states in passing that the Mongols brought the plague with them north from China and then an anecdote from sailors about the Mongols catapulting dead bodies that were infected with the plague into a city. The latter of which Mr. Weatherford promptly dismisses as unlikely. Facts are hard to come by in this circumstance. It may very well be the case that passing the plague through to the Genoans happened accidently.  One thing is an absolute. Even without “germ- warfare” considerations, the Mongol empire via their vast trading and shipping enterprises most certainly spread the disease far and abroad. As far as the Mongols deserving guilt or blame for their role in this pandemic disaster, there isn’t really a case that can be made at this point for it. For instance, there are very limited connected historical accounts of what exactly happened during this time frame. There are no indicators of what other disease might have interacted with it to make it so particularly contagious at this point in time. There are also numerous environmental and nutritional factors that could have played a role in the spread and severity of this particular pandemic. It is imperative to remind ourselves of the limitations of medical history and to understand that any sort of retroactive diagnosis would be poor guesses at best. There is no factual way to discuss what role the Mongols may or may not have played in the spreading of the plague in any sort of deliberate way. Nor is there a reasonable conclusion to be drawn about where to place blame. 
  Mr. Weatherford wrote “The rulers of the Mongol empire displayed a persistent universalism”.  By stating this he is pointing out how, in so many words, the Mongols as a culture had no real ego and thought very simply and in direct terms. Because they were developing as they went along, they had no real “set” way of doing most things. They were willing and free to incorporate ideas and systems from anywhere they conquered or visited.   They gathered all the information they could, used what worked, let the rest fall away, then carried what they found useful throughout other nations and countries. This culture permeated all walks of Mongol life. They advanced their military through weapons and tactics they learned and picked up from China and Asia as a whole. They improved their own lifestyles by learning from and including merchants and craftsmen. They enveloped new ways of thinking and designing thanks to the engineers and philosophers they brought into their fold. Ultimately, this forward- thinking led to the ability to stabilize their own society to an amazing degree. It also allowed them to rule over subjugated lands and people much easier as they could make the transition of rule so incredibly smooth. 
The book is strongly written and the attention to detail is astounding. However, the weaknesses far outweigh the strengths. The entire subject matter is one that lends itself to not being able to be known. While there were lots of cultures in history that were fantastic record keepers, the Mongols were not one of them. A majority of the entire work is based on interpretations, estimations even, of events and activities that have no basis in anything that could be listed as factual. I respect greatly the fortitude and travel the author put into this book, and he was rewarded for it by receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Chinggis Khaan College in Mongolia. That being said, it must be referenced that he put a slant on Genghis Kahn and the Mongols, that while seems sweet and appealing, just does not line up with what we do factually know. Genghis Kahn was a brutal warlord and the Mongols were a race of fierce warriors that murdered and killed without prejudice. If the events he brought about had happened in our lifetimes, he would be a war criminal and sought to be punished for his crimes. We often speak of the brutality of figures like Hitler, Pol Pot. We question the tactics of military men such as Sherman’s march through Georgia and Rommel’s exploits in the desert. Yet, in the terms of this book, there is an attempt to soften the Mongols’ image or give the empire gets a pass on their sheer evil. There were no facts in the book that swayed my estimation of Genghis Kahn or his empire. I would not recommend this book to someone who wanted to learn more about the Mongols, mostly for the sheer reason it felt like was written with an agenda and did not pass the “eye-test” as being based on fact. 
