This book, written in 1957 & reissued in 1961 is the story of Botokai, a boy who was the son of a Mongol horde officer who genghis Khan believed betrayed him. Before his death, Chatig tells Botokai that he was innocent, & made him promise to prove it when he became a young man. With his best friend Dachu, BotoKai sets out to do just that. In the end, a year later, through a series of plot twists & turns, he does just that, & his father's title, lands, etc. are returned to him ( )

The son and widow of a disgraced Mongol general barely survive as despised beggers on the outskirts of Genghis Khan's imperial encampment. The only remotely friendly figure is the son of another general who feels that the boy should not be punished for the sins of his father. Determined to win glory for himself and clear his father's name, the son asks to serve in the army, but is refused even this.

Given the opportunity to gain a horse if he can nurse a frail colt to health, he sees another alternative. When the horse recovers, he and his friend embark on a journey to search for information to clear his father's name, creating a murderous enemy in the process.

I've read this well-written and fascinating young adult novel as both a child and an adult, and I recommend it either to lovers of historical novels, particularly those interested in Central Asia.

It is fairly unusual to find a decent historical novel about the Mongols, especially from their point of view. They tend to be caricatured as the super-barbarians. Yes, the empire was built on a lot of bloodshed, but so are most empires, like Alexander the Great's, and yet so many are celebrated as "glorious". Rita Ritchie has written two other books on Mongols of this period: The Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan and The Secret Beyond the Mountain. I recommend them all. ( )