The First Emperor of China is the true story of Ying Zheng: the man who unified China, built the Great Wall, and whose tomb is guarded by the famous Terracotta Army. Ying Zheng was born to rule the world. Yet there were rumours he was not the son of the king but the child of a secret affair between a royal concubine and an ambitious minister. Crowned king of Qin - China's westernmost kingdom - six rival kings stood between him and victory. He invaded Qi, the land of the devout, looking for a mythical magical device that could bring down the power of the gods. Surviving an assassination attempt by a childhood friend, the Red Prince, he retaliated by destroying the Prince's kingdom. This new book by Jonathan Clements is the first outside Asia to tell the full story of the life, legends and laws of the first emperor. It exposes the intrigues and scandals of his family - his mother's plot to overthrow him, a revolt led by his stepfather, and the suspicious death of his half-brother - explores the immigration crisis that threatened to destroy his kingdom, and provides a terrifying glimpse of daily life in a land under absolute rule.
Jonathan Clements is the author of many books on East Asian history, including biographies of emperors and empresses, statesmen and warriors, foreign visitors and outcast rebels. His works have been translated into over a dozen languages, including French, Spanish, Korean and Dutch, and he achieved a rare distinction when his book on the First Emperor of China was itself published in Chinese.
