Men and Gods in Mongolia

First published in 1935, Men & Gods in Mongolia is rare and unusual travel book that takes the reader into the virtually unknwon world of Mongolia, a country only now opening up to the West. Henning Haslund was a Swedish Explorer who accompanied Sven Hedin and other explorers into Mongolia and Central Asia in the 1920s and 30s. Haslund takes the reader to the lost city of Karakota in the Gobi desert, introduces the reader to the Bodgo Gegen, a God-king in Mongolia, and allows the reader to meet Dambin Jansang, the dreaded warlord of the 'Black Gobi'. Alongside the esoteric and mystical material, there is plenty of adventure; caravans across the Gobi desert; kidnapped and held for ransom; initation into shamanic societies; encounters with warlords; and the violent birth of a new nation.

Henning Haslund

Book 1. 1. Rumours of a Khan in the West. 2. I Become a Member of the Sven Hedin Expedition. 3. The Work Begins. 4. Yolros Lama. 5. The Dance of the Gods. 6. The Dance of the Magicians. 7. Zayagan. 8. Suidor Disappears from the Camp. 9. Brief Encounter with the Advance Column. 10. Desert Justice. 11. The Oppression of the Desert. 12. Etsin-Gol at Last. 13. Life by the River. 14. Asia's Birds of Passage. 15. Sailing on Unchartered Waters with the Chief. 16. We Traverse Black Gobi. 17. A Robber's Stronghold in the Desert. 18. Prisoners. 19. Facts and Musings about a Coin and a Woman's Dress. 20. New Fields of Work. 21. The Oasis Beyond the Desert. 22. Adventure in 'The Snow Country'. 23. I Become a Shaman. Book 2. 1. Before the Goal. 2. My 'Air-Horse' Gallops Before the Wind. 3. I am Brought into the Presence of 'The Khan in the West'. 4. The Music of the Mongols. 5. The Strong Man of the Torguts. 6. 'The Primordial Spark'. 7. The Ruler's Bodily and Spiritual Births. 8. The Laws of the Steppe. 9. In the Oven. 10. Under the Smoke-Hood. 11. The Tent Temples of the Torguts. 12. Across the Mountains. 13. The Year of the 'Iron Snake' Comes In. 14. The Origin of the Torguts. 15. Occultism in a Temple Tent. 16. Farewell.