"An essential work for the study of the Mongol Empire and for Eastern Europe. Roman Hautala does a masterful job of untangling the complicated knots of the history of the Golden Horde and then weaves it into an expansive, but lucid, narrative covering 300 years. For the size and duration of the empire, this volume is concise, yet still remains comprehensive." - Timothy May, University of North Georgia, author of The Mongol Empire and The Mongol Art of War