In Secret Mongolia

By Henning Haslund and Henning Haslund-Christensen

The first book in Henning Haslund's Mongolia series, this book was originally published in 1934. This rare travel book has been out-of-print for 50 years but is now back in print. Haslund was a Danish... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0932813275
• ISBN13: 9780932813275
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An Interesting Story about Early Mongolia

While the book opens poorly with a difficult two chapters, once the narrator gets to Mongolia this book becomes really interesting. The book at times feels dated and would benefit from being re-edited/re-translated, but if you are interested in Mongolia than it's definitely worth the effort.

Like a Jack London story except its real!

This book is one mans recollections of his time spent in Mongolia during the 1920s. Haslund was part of a group of Danes who set out to Mongolia in order to set up a farm in remote Mongolia. During this time period it was similar to the wild west with tribal warlords of various ethnicities as well as communist Russians on one side, and the Chinese on the other. Haslund recounts his various adventures and interactions with warlords, Shamans, his short stay in a Siberian prison after a case of mistaken identity, dealing with the harsh climate and environment of that part of the world, the setting up of the farm. Lots of great observances of the culture, customs and the nature in Mongolia. This book reads like a Jack London story except its for real. It really is amazing how tough and self sufficent these guys had to be to pound out an existence in that part of the world. Haslund doesn't slip into any corny tough guy semantics though. He is very matter of fact about the dangers and hardships that he dealt with. To me this book is one of the great unknown books. I currently live in Denmark and I've yet to meet a Dane who has even heard of Haslund or this book.

A Rare Personal Account of Another Culture

This book is comparable to the stories told by explorers of the Americas of how hard it was to survive outside of one's own culture in a time without our modern amenities like a phone, a translation dictionary, or a guide to local customs. I read it while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia in 1996 and it helped me understand how much life had changed there in the past ninety years.