Customer Reviews

The Emperor

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a very unique book presenting a seemingly casual investigation of the last days of Haile Selassie's reign in Ethiopia. Note that this is not a history of Ethiopia or Selassie's reign, so prior knowledge on these subjects would be an advantage. Kapuscinski offers clandestine interviews with members of the Emperor's court and ministries, as they watched the slow and rather bizarre downfall of the autocrat. While non-Ethiopians often see Selassie as an enlightened visionary and Moses-like leader of his people, the reality was much different closer to home. Here we find an entrenched demagogue more concerned with preserving his power with little knowledge of the lives of his subjects. He surrounded himself with yes-men with the same self-preserving motives, and like any fading dictator he regularly purged anyone even remotely connected to independent thinkers. In one interview, a member of the court regrets sending his son to college, as the young man became infested with ideas that were not loyal to the Emperor, though they were probably accurate. Kapuscinski's anonymous subjects underhandedly point out their leader's faults while constantly heaping titles on him like "His Enlightened Majesty" or "His Benevolent Highness." This indicates the leader's cult of personality and his employees' pathological fear of losing his favor. We then see the classic fall of an out-of-touch despot, as he was ousted in one of the weirdest revolutions of all time. This unique book seems like lightweight reporting at the surface, but ultimately offers numerous lessons in power and corruption, and Selassie's story offers many parallels for autocrats around the world and throughout history. [~doomsdayer520~]

All hail His August Majesty!! That is what Haile Selassie heard from a nation of people that worshipped, but feared the King of Kings. During his most powerful years as Emperor of Ethiopia His Imperial Majesty was the most powerful person in this ancient culture. As Kapuscinski relates through eloquent anecdotes, his power and national approval would soon change.

The book is structured into three chapters, The Throne, It's Coming, It's Coming, and The Collapse. Imperial Palace inhabitants relate stories that describe the feelings and attitudes of those closest to the Emperor. Kapuscinski gives you a sense of what it was like to be in the palace in times of great affluence and abundance. Just when you thought it could not get any better, the feeling of revolution sets in. He describes how the people began to tire of the monarchy, loose respect for power, and grow increasingly hungry. It was captivating to read how the dignitaries tried to hold on to their imperious way of life, while the revolution was taking place outside the palace gates.

This book takes you inside the palace during crucial times of Haile Selassie's reign. You get a sense of what the people were thinking, but did anyone ever know what Haile Selassie was actually thinking?

Ryszard Kapuscinski's ability to get "inside" the foreign conflicts he covers is quite remarkable.

In "The Emperor," Kapuscinski details the rise and fall of Ethiopian King Haile Selassie who, for nearly his entire reign, was regarded as a god on earth by his people. In stark prose and devastating imagery, Kapuscinski lays out the excesses of the Selassie regime - excesses that ultimately led to Selassie being overthrown. In one particularly moving passage, Kapuscinski describes how leftover food from a regal banquet is thrown down from a window in the King's mansion to starving townspeople nearby. In that passage, Kapuscinski lays out the line between the lavishness in which Selassie basked and the squalor in which most of his subjects existed.

Arguably, the single greatest aspect of Kapuscinski as a journalist is his healthy respect for -- and knowledge of when to provide - the history of the place he's covering. In "The Emperor," Kapuscinski provides sufficient background on the Ethiopian conception of rulers as deities, as well as good detail about the wholesale slaughter of Ethiopians during the war with Italy in 1935. But he doesn't overdo it with the history, and that's what makes Kapuscinski's writing so good. As his later books, such as "Imperium," about the fall of the Soviet Union, show, Kapuscinski is a much better reporter than he is a historian. When he is writing about wars, revolts, uprisings, or other events he is witnessing firsthand, Kapuscinski is at his best.

Of all the works Kapuscinski produced during his years with the Warsaw News Agency, "The Emperor" is probably the best. As with "Another Day of Life," Kapuscinski's book about the Angolan Civil War, "The Emperor" lays bare a tyrannical political regime, and provides insights into why it collapsed.

(That's the polish original title.) I think it's worth saying, that in Poland, in the 4th class of high school it's obligatory to read for all the students.'Emperor' was also included in a list of 100 most important non-fictional books of the century ( I don't actually remember the name of the magazine, that prepared the list). It is the most famous book by Ryszard Kapuscinski, famous for the topic he's chosen to write about; for it's beauty and simplicity of style and the massage it carries.Famous for it's huge dose of emotions.Famous for it's beauty.Telling a story of Hajle Sellasje, the emperor of Ethiopia, Kapuscinski shows us the tragedy of Africa, the never-solved problems and curse it has to fight with. He shows us the essence of power, it's danger and instability. "Emperor" is probably the most comprehensive book about authocratic system ever written. We are told the story of the emperor by the people who used to be his servants and clerks. The author has spent years in Africa, South America and Asia, as a war-correspondent.He's seen the downfalls of various governments,uprises and wars.In "Emperor" he shows us his experiences in the simplest and most beautiful way ever.

Great historical book describing the mood of the palace in Ethiopia under the rule of Haile Selassie. Excellent in its description of mood. You actually see the insanity and chaos that Selassie created and nurtured in his palace and metaphorically thoughout his country. And by the end of the book, you understand how the King of Kings was destroyed by the monster he created. The style was unlike any book I'd read in the past. It was really exceptionally well done.

Kapuscinski is one of the best at this type of writing...and perhaps THE best writer on Africa in general. The Emperor is easy to read and will not bog you down with page after page of boring political details.

This is my favorite Kapuscinski book. The style is totally unique and the people of Ethopia will owe the author a debt of gratitude for recording the history held within. For example.....the author found and interviewed the only person (his butler/servant) to be with the Emperor during the last weeks of his reign. He found the servant in hiding and he must have been very old.

Through a series of interviews with the palace staff....the writer paints a complete picture of what the Emporer was like and what it was like for the dignitaries and servants that had to compete for his favor. I didn't realize the quality of what I had read until I completed the book and then I continued to reflect on it for weeks.

I wish I could give the book 6 stars.

I hate to write anything negative about this book because it is so highly original. The approach, that of relying upon interviews with former palace insiders, would be incredibly effective were it not for the fact that the author decided to embellish their descriptions. Had he not done so, this would be one of the all-time great descriptions of autocratic excess.

Still, this description of life within the Ethiopian royal palace during the last days of the reign of Hailie Selassie (a hero in the West because of his successful opposition to the Italian invasion preceding World War II) provides a fine description of the sycophants, bullies, and idiots who hang around to lick up the slops as a totalitarian regime enters its final days.

Well worth reading.

If you like this book, you may be interested in The Ends of the Earth: A Journey at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century by Robert D. Kaplan.

A series of spellbinding interviews of palace insiders that collectively defines the genius and folly of Haille Selassie's 45-year autocratic rule of Ethiopia

I purchased this volume seeking some insight into the origination of the Rastafarie religion from Ethiopia but learned nothing on that topic. What Kapuscinski did teach me was well worth the read, engrossing, captivating and intense. This is the story of Hallie Sallasie and his almost 40 years in power. The story is told through the mouths and eyes of various courtiers and sycophants of his and his kingdom - all as they realize that he is not in fact the "one God" but rather a real person with real failings. It is a read that can't be put down and I would advise buying more than 1 copy since you will invariably give a copy away to a dear friend. Those who imagine that Hallie Sallasie was "enlightened" would do well to read this documentary novel of a very scared, very intense, very faithful man who killed every one who opposed or disagreed with him. If enlightenment means killing 50,000+ citizens of your own nation, I am again grateful that we in America have not yet had an "enlightened" leader....

...and I dare you to put it down. I picked up Shah of Shah's while studying Iran. Shah of Shah's has almost nothing to do with Iran (except to provide a political backdrop). Like The Emperor, it is a horrifying and comical study of outrageous personalities and those who serve them. Kapuscinski's writing is so unique, so compelling. His view of history makes for some powerful storytelling.