While it is an irrefutable fact that Genghis Khan conquered much of Asia in order to build his Mongolian Empire, your opinion of him will vary wildly depending on where you live. In modern day Asia, particularly Mongolia and areas of China, he is treated as a cultural hero who built one of the greatest empires in human history. Conversely, in much of the Middle East and eastern Europe Genghis Khan and his regime are credited with considerable damage, destruction and loss of population. The opinion is particularly low in the Middle East and Iran, where it is commonly believed that Genghis Khan's assorted troops killed up to three quarters of the population of the Iranian Plateau, roughly 15 million people. While this isn't as high as the impact that Mao had on the population of China, it is estimated that Iran's population did not reach the same level again until the middle of the last 20th century. Unlike many of the men on this list, Khan appears to have contributed to the human population nearly as much as he took away from it. To this day, it is thought that as many as 8% of the men in China (which account for about 0.5% of the world's total) are descendants of Khan. While having a lot of children doesn't make you worse than Hitler, there's something about knowing that the descendants of Khan are still running about that is slightly disconcerting. At least Hitler didn't have any children.
With a (nearly) useless degree in English literature and a personal trainer qualification he's never used, Freddie spends his times writing things that he hopes will somehow pay the rent. He's also a former professional singer, and plays the saxophone and ukulele. He's not really used to talking about himself in the third person, and would like to stop now, thanks.
