Voices From the Twelfth-Century Steppe

A historical novelist explores the Secret History of the Mongols.

If the Secret History is a communal memoir, who told its secrets? Did Temujin -- Chinggis Khan -- tell his own story? Whose voices are heard within the text?

Voices from the Twelfth-Century Steppe has two strands. It practices interpretation of the Secret History of the Mongols from an oral and written arts standpoint ('literary') -- how does this differ from historical investigation? It exhibits ways a historical novelist engages with a primary source -- how does this tend to differ from a historian?

'Voices' is a case study in close source work by a creative writer. Entangled with this, a case is made for arts criticism of the Secret History. Its artistry is integral to its sense.