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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (Penguin Classics)
 
 

The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Ryszard Kapuscinski (Author), Neal Ascherson (Introduction) "In the evenings I listened to those who had known the Emperor's court ..." (more)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics (1 Jun 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141188030
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141188034
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 52,923 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #2 in  Books > History > Countries & Regions > Africa > Eastern > Ethiopia

Product Description

Product Description

After the deposition of Haile Selassie in 1974, which ended the ancient rule of the Abyssinian monarchy, Ryszard Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia and sought out surviving courtiers to tell their stories. Here, their eloquent and ironic voices depict the lavish, corrupt world they had known - from the rituals, hierarchies and intrigues at court to the vagaries of a ruler who maintained absolute power over his impoverished people. They describe his inexorable downfall as the Ethiopian military approach, strange omens appear in the sky and courtiers vanish, until only the Emperor and his valet remain in the deserted palace, awaiting their fate. Dramatic and mesmerising, The Emperor is one of the great works of reportage and a haunting epitaph on the last moments of a dying regime.


About the Author

Born in Pinsk, now in Belarus, in 1932, Kapuscinski was the pre-eminent writer among Polish reporters. Kapuscinski's best-known book is just such a reportage-novel of the decline of Haile Selassie's anachronistic regime in Ethiopia - The Emperor, which has been translated into many languages. Shah of Shahs, about the last Shah of Iran, and Imperium, about the last days of the Soviet Union, have enjoyed similar success. He died in January 2007. Neal Ascherson was born in Edinburgh in 1932, and has worked as a journalist all his life - mostly as a foreign correspondent in east-central Europe and in Africa. For some 12 years he was a columnist on The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He wrote two books about Poland, and his recent works include Black Sea (1995) and Stone Voices (2002). Neal Ascherson lives in London and is married to the journalist and broadcaster Isabel Hilton.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
In the evenings I listened to those who had known the Emperor's court. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How good can it get?, 28 Oct 2006
By Tim the knife "Tim" (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
Kapuscinsky at his finest! As the world falls apart around Haille Selassie, Kapuscinsky documents his inexorable downfall. But, as always this is not just a documentary. This is colourful, flavoursome, deliciously ironic, bitterly sweet and, whilst inciting despair, drawing symapthy and anger at the same time. If there is one Kapuscinsky to read - make it this one.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A study in autocracy, 10 Jan 2007
By Simon May (Northampton, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have just finished reading this book - and I loved it.

I was given it as a Christmas gift; having added it to my Amazon wish list !

I first came across Ryszard Kapuscinski after reading "The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life", which I also loved. I like Kapuscinski's reportage style, but I am particularly gripped by his insight.

As for the actual book; I think that the mechanism that Kapuscinski uses for telling the story - vignettes from different individuals - is a great way of telling a story. The reader receives a variety of perspectives, which on their own may not tell the whole story, but collectively form a mossaic which gives far more detail than simple reportage could ever do.

By the end of the book, I felt that I had a pretty good impression of life in the court of Haile Selassie, but I also felt that I had a much clearer understanding of life in the court of any autocratic absolute monarch - such as King Charles I of England or the Kings Louis' of France.

Highly recommended !
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A snapshot of a society in the midst of collapse, 27 Jul 2006
This is one of a number of amazing works of journalism by Ryszard Kapuscinski, who covered the Third World for the Polish Press Agency until 1981.

In typical Kapuscinski style, in 1974 he went to Ethiopia in the middle of a successful coup attempt to interview servants and associates of the soon-to-be-deposed Emperor Haile Selassie to discover how he ruled and why he was overthrown. The result is a wonderfully composed text that is practically dripping with irony, regret, and even humor.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Elegant fiction masquerading as reportage
No doubt about the elegance of the prose, but the supposed factual basis of the events it describes is highly suspect. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. Stewart

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting perspective
Written as a series of reminicences by former flunkies of the royal Sellasi household this book has an imaginative format. Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2007 by Sally Wilton

5.0 out of 5 stars Kings of Kings live off the blood of the people
Fantastic!!This was Kapuscinski's first book to be translated into English,and the second of his I read(the first was "Another Day Of Life"). Read more
Published on 25 Jul 2007 by PygmyTwylyte

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant and fascinating
This is a fascinating review of Haile Selassie's reign, told in their own words by people who were in his court. Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2000

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