The Mughal emperor Timur (1336–1405), known also as Tamerlane, conquered large parts of central Asia in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He was renowned for being an exceptionally good military strategist, but also for being a ruthless conqueror. His purported autobiography was not published in English until 1830, when it was translated by the orientalist Charles Stewart (1764–1837) from a Persian version of the Chagatai original. This reissue offers an insight into Timur's motives and the detail of his strategy. The book begins with a statement of the principles that he ruled by, along with an account of certain events which led him to believe he was receiving divine aid. The narrative then becomes chronological and covers the period of his life up to 1375, when Timur was in his forties.
