Michael Prawdin was the pseudonym of Michael Charol (20 January 1894 – 23 December 1970), a Russian-German historical writer. Born in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, Charol came to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

.Richard Breitman, 'Hitler and Genghis Khan', ''

Journal of Contemporary History The ''Journal of Contemporary History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of history in all parts of the world since 1930. It was established in 1966 by Walter Laqueur and George L. Mosse. Originally published by ...

'', Vol. 25, No. 2/3 (May–June 1990), pp. 337–351; cf. Breitman, ''The Architect of Genocide: Himmler and the Final Solution'', Bodley Head, 1991, p. 39 He studied in Germany, and wrote in German. In 1934, he made a plea for the 'factual novel'. Prawdin made himself an international reputation with two books on

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

. The Nazi bureaucrat

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

sufficiently admired the books that he ordered the publication of a one-volume edition in 1938, a copy of which was given to every SS leader; the book appears to have encouraged

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

to claim inspiration from Genghis Khan.

Reception

Gerard Chaliand in his Introduction to a 2006 reprint of ''The Mongol Empire'' said Michael Prawdin tells us a story "with great literary talent." L. Carrington Goodrich reviewed the 1940 translation of ''The Mongol Empire''. He said, "this is a readable book" but added that "the author has made numerous errors, skims lightly over certain important developments, gives only fragments of quotations without credit to translator..., fails to utilize fully his own sources which are far from complete, and makes assumptions which hard indeed to follow. This is slick writing, not sober history". He continued that "part of Prawdin’s trouble is carelessness", and that "some of his suppressions or condensations of material seem surprising because the facts are well known and of general interest".

Works

* ''Eine Welt zerbricht: Ein Tatsachenroman'', 1933. Translated by Kenneth Kirkness as ''Double Eagle'', London: Selwyn & Blount, 1934. * ''Tschingis-Chan, der Sturm aus Asien'', 1934, Stuttgart, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. * ''Tschingis-Chan und sein Erbe'', 1935. Translated by Eden and

Cedar Paul Cedar Paul, ''née'' Gertrude Mary Davenport (1880 – 18 March 1972) was a singer, author, translator and journalist.''Who Was Who'' Biography Gertrude Davenport came from a musical family: she was the granddaughter of the composer George Ale ...

as
The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy
', 1937. * ''Johanna die Wahnsinnige, Habsburgs Weg zum Weltreich'', 1937. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul as ''The Mad Queen of Spain'', London: G. Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1938. * ''Russland'', Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1951. * ''Netschajew--von Moskau verschwiegen'', 1961. Translated as ''The Unmentionable Nechaev: A Key to Bolshevism''. London: Allen and Unwin, 1961. * ''Marie de Rohan, duchesse de Chevreuse'', London: Allen & Unwin, 1971.

References

1894 births 1970 deaths Soviet emigrants to Germany Ukrainian emigrants to Germany German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German historians {{Germany-historian-stub