That enduring icon of ruthlessness, Genghis Khan, may not have been such a bad bloke after all. That, at least, is the theory being examined in a BBC1 drama-documentary being screened next Monday.
By the time of his death in 1227, Genghis Khan's empire was four times the size of Alexander the Great's, and twice the size of Rome's. It's something of an understatement to say a few of his enemies got hurt along the way.
Undeniably, he was the one of the most feared military geniuses in history. But Ed Bazalgette, the producer of the documentary, argues that Khan has become one of history's bogeymen, and that his story is cloaked with myth.
In today's Telegraph, Bazalgette says: "No one is suggesting that he was a benign individual, but his history was written by those he defeated."
Mystery surrounds Khan's death, but one story, told in a Guardian review of a book published about him last year, says he went to sleep after the daughter of a king he was lying with castrated him. Apparently some Mongolians are convinced that, when he is healed he will return to life to save his people.
This may be a scary thought - but at least we could then establish just how a much of nice chap Khan really was.
