In 1206 a steppe chieftain united the tribes and built the largest land empire in history — paved with terror, and held together by the best-run postal service on earth.
History’s largest land empire was not built by a civilization. It was built by nomads who had no cities, no written bureaucracy, and no intention of being civilized — and who then ran their conquests with a managerial genius that shames many modern states.
