re: #550 HappyWarrior
I find the Mongolian empire fascinating. That such a nomadic people got so far and Genghis to this day is said to be the direct common ancestor one out of every eight Central Asians. I always try to when I play strategy games like Hearts of Iron, Ages of Empires, or Civ try to start an empire with some small nation. The age of Bulgaria is upon us!
I liked David Brin’s “Helvetian War” in Earth. He explicitly said it was on the Heinlein principle of throwing in something completely outrageous periodically to keep the otherwordly atmosphere.