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 ...

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 GuardianOut 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...

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 th...

The name Attila the Hun has become a byword for barbarism, savagery and violence. His is a truly household name, but what do we really know about the man himself, his position in history and the world in which he lived? This riveting biography reveals the man behind the myth.In the years 434-454AD the fate of Europe hung upon the actions of one man, Attila, king of the Huns. The decaying Roman empire still stood astride the Western World, from its twin capitals of Rome and Constant...

Southern African Wild Flowers takes readers on a journey through the diverse landscapes of the subregion, showcasing the unique richness of its wild flowers along the way. Each chapter focuses on a specific region, highlighting the most beautiful, interesting and rare plants occurring there.The journey begins at the Zambezi river and then moves down the eastern part of southern Africa through the well-watered ‘land of plenty’. From here, the reader is taken through the splendours o...

Sasol First Field Guide to Fynbos of Southern Africa is a beginner's guide to one of the most complex and fascinating communities of plant species in the world. Included in this guide are particularly striking specimens and those that display typical fynbos features. Full-colour photographs, distribution maps, and easy-to-read text will help the beginner and emerging naturalist to discover where fynbos occurs, how it has evolved and survives and how to recognize and identify specimens in t...

Sasol First Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa provides fascinating insight into the succulents of the region. With the help of full-colour photo graph, distribution maps and easy-to-read text, the budding naturalist will be able to identify the more common succulents that grow in southern Africa, discover where they are found, and learn about their unique features.

The Ninjas today are the stuff of myth and legend in comics, film and electronic games. But once they were real, the medieval equivalent of the SAS: spies, saboteurs, assassins. In their secrecy, under-cover skills and determination to survive, they were the opposite of the overt, self destructive samurai. Could they fly? Make themselves invisible? Of course not.It was just that their skills gave them a magical aura. As a result, martial artists and story-tellers have turned them into fant...

'Man does for the reader that most difficult of tasks: he conjures up an ancient people in an alien landscape in such a way as to make them live.' - GuardianThe people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 BC they dominated the heart of Asia for 400 years. They changed the world. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see them as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese unity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their hei...

Drawing on the accumulated expertise of one of the world's top leadership development organizations, this is a comprehensive and accessible guide to effective leadership practice, written in fifty-two short, to-the-point chapters.A disciplined leader is someone who identifies and focuses in on what author John Manning calls "the vital few"-that 20 percent of activities that will deliver 80 percent of the results. Manning should know. He is the President of Management Action Program...

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 alon...

The emblem, an image accompanied by a motto and a verse or short prose passage, is both art and literature: in the emblem tradition, the image presents a story – often with pictorial symbols – and the verse below it drives home the picture-story's moral instruction. It is one of the most fascinating, and enduring, art forms in Western culture.John Manning's book charts the rise and evolution of the emblem from its earliest manifestations to its emergence as a genre in its own right...