The world A family history of humanity
Book - 2023
"From the acclaimed author of The Romanovs-a magisterial history of humanity viewed through the lens of its most powerful dynasties In this sprawling and eye-opening book, best-selling historian Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicles the world's great dynasties across human history through engrossing tales of palace intrigue, glorious battle, and the real lives of people who held unfathomable power. He trains his eye on founders of humble origin, like Sargon, the Mesopotamian cupbearer sent to help defeat a rival who returned with an army to dethrone his own king, and Liu Bang, a peasant who became a rebel leader and founded the Han dynasty. Montefiore illuminates the achievements of fearsome emperors, including Yax Ehb Xook, whose May...an city-state Tikal boasts some of the most monumental ancient architecture that exists today; Jayavarman II, who proclaimed himself "universal king" and whose Khmer empire in South Asia heralded a thousand years of Indic ascendancy; and Ewuare, the African emperor who built a capital city that rivaled any in Europe. He writes, too, about remarkable women rulers, like Hatshepsut, the first female pharaoh, and Maria Theresa, the only woman to rule the Habsburg empire. These families represent the breadth of human endeavor, with bloody civil wars, treacherous conspiracies, and shocking megalomania alongside flourishing culture, moving romances, and enlightened benevolence. A dazzling epic history as spellbinding as fiction, The World is testament to Montefiore's acclaimed career as our poet laureate of power"--
- Subjects
- Genres
- Anecdotes
Biographies - Published
-
New York :
Alfred A. Knopf
2023.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Edition
- First American edition
- Item Description
- Maps on end papers.
"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicholson ... London, in 2022"--Title page verso.
"This is a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf" -- Title page verso. - Physical Description
- xl, 1,304 pages : maps ; 25 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9780525659532
- Act one. Houses of Sargon and Ahmose: ziggurats and pyramids ; Houses of Hattusa and Rameses ; The Nubian pharaohs and great kings of Ashur: House Alara versus House Tiglath-Pileser
- Act two. Haxamanis and Alcmaeon: Houses of Persia and Athens ; The Alexandrians and the Haxamanishiya: Eurasian duel ; The Mauryans and the Qin ; The Barcas and the Scipios: the Houses of Carthage and Rome
- Act three. The Han and the Caesars ; Trajans and first step sharks: Romans and the Maya ; Severans and Zenobians: Arab dynasties
- Act four. Houses of Constantine, Sasan and Spearthrower Owl
- Act five. The Muhammad Dynasty ; Tang and Sasan
- Act six. Houses of Muhammad and Charlemagne ; Rurikovichi and the House of Basil ; The Ghanas and the Fatimiyya
- Act seven. Song, Fujiwara and Chola ; Seljuks, Komnenoi and Hautevilles
- Act eight. Genghis: a conquering family ; Khmers, Hohenstaufen and Polos ; The Keitas of Mali and the Habsburgs of Austria
- Act nine. The Tamerlanians, the Ming and the Obas of Benin
- Act ten. Medici and Mexica, Ottomans and Aviz ; Incas, Trastamaras and Rurikovichi ; Manikongos, Borgias and Columbuses ; Habsburgs and Ottomans
- Act eleven. Tamerlanians and Mexica, Ottomans and Safavis ; Incas, Pizarros, Habsburgs and Medici ; Tamerlanians and Rurikovichi, Ottomans and the House of Mendes ; Valois and Saadis, Habsburgs and Rurikovichi
- Act twelve. Dahomeans, Stuarts and Villiers, Tamerlanians and Ottomans ; Zumbas and Oranges, Cromwells and Villiers ; Manchus and Shivajis, Bourbons, Stuarts and Villiers ; Afsharis and Manchus, Hohenzollerns and Habsburgs ; Durranis and Saids, Hemingses and Toussaints ; Romanovs and Durranis, Pitts, Comanche and Kamehamehas
- Act thirteen. Arkwrights and Krupps, Habsburgs, Bourbons and Sansons
- Act fourteen. Bonapartes and Albanians, Wellesleys and Rothschilds ; Zulus and Saudis, Christophes, Kamehamehas and Astors
- Act fifteen. Braganzas and Zulus, Albanians, Dahomeans and Vanderbilts
- Act sixteen. Bonapartes and Manchus, Habsburgs and Comanche
- Act seventeen. Hohenzollerns and Krupps, Albanians and Lakotas
- Act eighteen. The Houses of Solomon and Asante, Habsburg and Saxe-Coburg ; The Houses of Hohenzollern and Roosevelt, Solomon and Manchu
- Act nineteen. Hohenzollerns, Krupps, Ottomans, Tennos and Songs ; Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs and Hashemites ; Pahlavis and Songs, Roosevelts, Mafiosi and Kennedys
- Act twenty. Roosevelts, Suns, Krupps, Pahlavis and Saudis
- Act twenty-one. Nehrus, Maos and Suns, Mafiosi, Hashemites and Albanians ; Norodoms and Kennedys, Castros, Kenyattas and Obamas ; Hashemites and Kennedys, Maos, Nehruvians and Assads ; Houses of Solomon and Bush, Bourbon, Pahlavi and Castro
- Act twenty-two. Yeltsins and Xis, Nehruvians and Assads, Bin Ladens, Kims and Obamas
- Act twenty-three. Trumps and Xis, Sauds, Assads and Kims.
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review