In the Shadow of the Gods
The Emperor in World History
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- £13.99
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- £13.99
Publisher Description
From the acclaimed Wolfson Prize-winning author, a dazzling history of the world's emperors
For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. In practice they ran the gamut from being some of the most remarkable men who ever lived, to being some of the worst and least remarkable.
Dominic Lieven's marvellous new book, In the Shadow of the Gods, is the first to grapple seriously with this extraordinary phenomenon. Across the world peoples, willingly or unwillingly, fell into orbit around figures who reshaped or destroyed entire societies, imposed religions and invaded rivals. Lieven describes the anatomy of imperial monarchy and the principles by which it functioned. He compares the great emperors of antiquity, the caliphs and the warrior-emperors of the steppe before he turns to the Habsburg, Russian, Ottoman, Mughal and Chinese emperors, packing the book with extraordinary stories, astute observations and a sense of both delight and horror at these individuals' antics. The entire breadth of extreme human behaviour is here - from warlords to patrons of the arts, from political genius to feeble incapacity and pathological violence.
As one of the great experts both on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history's grandest and most dismaying figures.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Lieven (Russia Against Napoleon) delivers an erudite, globe-spanning study of "hereditary holders of supreme authority" and their systems of government. He highlights the shared features of regimes as far-flung as ancient Mesopotamia and 19th-century Japan, including the challenge of succession, the religious role of the emperor, and the need for a tightly knit relationship between the emperor and landowning elites. The Ottoman, Romanov, and Hapsburg dynasties get their due, but Lieven also introduces readers to more obscure monarchies, including India's Mauryan Empire (321–189 BCE), which produced the Arthashastra, a guide to statecraft that rivals The Prince, and, under the leadership of a ruler named Ashoka, spread Buddhism across East and Southeast Asia. Lieven also details the advanced cavalry techniques, mobility, and sheer manpower of the Mongol Empire, and argues that under Chinggis Khan (c. 1158–1227 CE), "the Mongol military machine became the most formidable yet seen in history." Throughout, Lieven pays close attention to female rulers, including Russia's Catherine the Great and Wu Zetian, the only sovereign empress in Chinese history. Though the last chapter largely abandons the lens of empire for a whirlwind tour of European nationalism, Lieven's sharp wit and vast knowledge impress. This eloquent and entertaining chronicle casts world history in a new light.