First published in 1963.The Secret History (so called merely because it was meant for the Mongols and not for the Chinese,) has been chiefly studied from a learned point of view and its quality as literature and hence its value to the lay reader have been greatly overlooked. The Chinese version has been used, but with constant reference to the Mongol text. The parts selected (founded on story-tellers' tales) date from the middle of the thirteenth century.