Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia (Campaign Series, 98.)

by V. Shapakovsky, Viacheslav Olegovich Shpakovskii, V. Korolkov, etc.

Release Date: February, 2002

Edition: Paperback

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Good Overview of Mongol Invasion

Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia is an excellent overview of the first Mongol invasion of medieval Russia. It is quite different from most other Osprey books, since the majority is dedicated to the describing the armies and their weaponary. As a result the book gives one a more indepth look at aspects other than the battle. While the 40 pages or so dedicated to the armies does not do either justice, it is a very good beginning.

Where the book falls off is in the description of the battle. One would surmise that the lack of a full description is caused by the lack of information. However, this is a minor matter.

An excellent account of the Mongols and medieval Russia

This new title from Osprey really gave me a new perspective on history. I knew a great deal of the mongols and their empire before, but reading David Nicolle's book gave me loads of new information concerning this era and the details of the battle, which I never could have imagend. Nicolle and co-writer
V Shpakovsky has excelled in bringing light to this otherwise "dark" period in history with a comprahensible style of writing. The splendid illustrations by Victor Korolkov adds to the mesmorizing historical account. One is not only introduced to the Mongols, but also with the Russian and polovtsian men at arms as well, everything based on careful examinations along with the most recent archelogical findings.
I must say,that I didn't know much about the russian warriors at all, but this book really gave me an opportunity to find out more about this subject which history often seems to forget.

The battle of Kalka 1223, in which the Mongol generals Subotai and Jebei (with orders from Genghiz Khan) utterly crushed the russian military alliance, truly was one of the more decisive battles in european history, since it subsequently led to the devastating invasion of central europe in 1241. David Nicolle (and Shpakovsky) has brilliantly achieved with bringing ancient history into life, and I look forward to read more books by this author, as well as other titles from Osprey too of course.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in- and wants to learn more about the Mongols, Middle ages or just history in general.