Michael Prawdin was the pseudonym of Michael Charol (20 January 1894-1970), a Russian-German historical writer.

Born in the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Charol came to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 after the Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution can refer to:* Russian Revolution , a series of strikes and uprisings against Nicholas II, resulting in the creation of State Duma.* Russian Revolution...

. He studied in Germany, and wrote in German. In 1934 he made a plea for the 'factual novel'.

Prawdin made himself an international reputation with two books on Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

. The Nazi bureaucrat Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

 sufficiently admired the books that he ordered the publication of a one-volume edition in 1938, a copy of which was given to every SS leader; the book appears to have encouraged Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 to claim inspiration from Genghis Khan.

Works

• Eine Welt zerbricht: ein Tatsachenroman, 1933. Translated by Kenneth Kirkness as Double eagle, London: Selwyn & Blount, 1934.
• Tschingis-Chan und sein Erbe, 1935. Translated by Eden
  Eden Paul
  Maurice Eden Paul, most commonly known simply as Eden Paul was a socialist physician, writer and translator.-Biography:...
  
   and Cedar Paul
  Cedar Paul
  Cedar Paul, née Gertrude Mary Davenport was a singer, author, translator and journalist.-Biography:Gertrude Davenport came from a musical family: she was the grand-daughter of the composer George Alexander Macfarren and the daughter of the composer Francis William Davenport...
  
  as The Mongol Empire: its rise and legacy, 1937.
• Johanna die wahnsinnige, Habsburgs weg sum weltreich, 1937. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul as The mad queen of Spain, London: G. Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1938.
• Russland, Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1951.
• Netschajew--von Moskau verschwiegen, 1961. Translated as The unmentionable Nechaev; a key to bolshevism. London: Allen and Unwin, 1961.
• Marie de Rohan, duchesse de Chevreuse, London: Allen & Unwin, 1971.