Hello, I was wondering if there were any comprehensive sources on the mongolian 13th century invasions and later conquests of Timur by the end of 14th century you could recommend.
I'm interested in details on the military tactics and battles/campaigns themselves, but also in the socio-economic conditions in those rapidly growing empires. As a history enthusiast I am trying to study up on events and areas which were only briefly touched upon (e.g. Mongolian Empire) or completely omitted (e.g. Timurid Empire) by my high school curriculum, but I sometimes find it very challanging to find good sources.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
For the life of Timur himself and his conquests, Beatrice Forbes Manz's Rise and Rule of Tamerlane is still the only comprehensive treatment that I'd really recommend, although it's a bit dry, and frustrating to me personally because she focuses on stuff I'm less interested in--although some of that stuff is military, so you may be more into it than I am! The other great intro source I always flog is Lentz & Lowry's Timur and the Princely Vision, which is, of all things, a catalog from an art exhibition in the early nineties. It contains really excellent articles on the Timurids in general as well as giving you a sense for their fabulous artistic and material culture. For the Mongols, perhaps Thomas T. Allsen’s Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia would give you what you're looking for. Peter Jackson's The Mongols & the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion is also very good, and more up to date.
I'm also going to venture out and make a more obscure related recommendation, if you can find it anywhere, maybe through interlibrary loan: John E. Woods's The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. Here's the WorldCat link to see if a library near you has it. This is about an even later tribal confederation, the Aqquyunlu or White Sheep Turkmen, who established an Iranian area of control alongside the later Timurids; but I think it does the most exceptional job of really exploring the mechanics of tribal confederacies, and how they function socially and militarily as they transition from a nomadic system to sedentarism and start taking up bureaucracy and the other perks of settled life. The general observations in that book will really help you in understanding the social structure of the Mongols and Timurids.
It seems you're interested in some similar aspects of the Mongols that I am, and one of those aspects is their military power. If you're interested you can check out a post I wrote up here, where I talk about the power, tactics, logistics and make-up of the Mongol military.
Otherwise here are some great sources for the Mongols:
The Mongols, 2nd edition by David Morgan
The Mongol Conquests: The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sube'etei by Carl Fredrik Sverdrup
The Mongol Warlords by David Nicolle
The last book I listed actually covers Tamerlane as well and I'd say this list is a pretty solid overview and good general starting point.