Preface: China's golden age on the sea -- Introduction: The travels of Marco Polo -- I. Kublai: a prince without qualities -- II. Kublai turns to the sea -- III. The Silk Road of the sea -- IV. The calm after Kublai and the decline -- Epilogue: History allows no favourites

"Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life."--