The Rise and Fall of Great Powers

A sprawling American odyssey about the nature of identity and family, for fans of Jonathan Franzen, Miranda July and Donna Tartt.


Who is Tooly Zylberberg? How did she end up running a second-hand bookstore in Wales? The Russian emigre Humphrey teaches her to play chess, but how does he fit in? Or Sarah who turns up without warning and then disappears again? And what about Venn, the shadowy and charismatic figure who seems to be one step ahead of everybody?


Spanning three decades, and taking us from Bangkok to Brooklyn to the border towns of Wales, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers is a story about how mystifying the past can be, and how the lives we lead can seem indecipherable even to us. It's a story about unexpected connections and the revelations that change everything.


The Rise and Fall of Great Powers will consolidate Rachman's reputation as one of the most assured and exciting young writers alive.


Tom Rachman was born in 1974 in London, and grew up in Vancouver. He has worked as an editor at the foreign desk of The Associated Press in New York, as an AP correspondent in Rome and as an editor at the International Herald Tribune in Paris. Rachman now lives in London. His first novel, The Imperfectionists, was longlisted for the The Giller Prize. tomrachman.com