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Synopsis
Examines the reign and recent fall of Ethiopia's Haile Selassie through eyewitness accounts of former members of the Emperor's circle
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Review
Haile Selassie, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, enjoyed a 44-year reign until his own army gave him the boot in 1974. In the days following the coup, the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski traveled to Ethiopia and sought out members of the imperial court for interviews.
His composite portrait of Selassie's crumbling imperium is an astonishing, wildly funny creation, beginning with the very first interview. "It was a small dog," recalls an anonymous functionary, "a Japanese breed. His name was Lulu. He was allowed to sleep in the Emperor's great bed. During various ceremonies, he would run away from the Emperor's lap and pee on dignitaries' shoes. The august gentlemen were not allowed to flinch or make the slightest gesture when they felt their feet getting wet. I had to walk among the dignitaries and wipe the urine from their shoes with a satin cloth. This was my job for ten years." (Well, it's a living.)
Elsewhere, the interviewees venture into tragic or grotesque or downright unbelievable terrain. Kapuscinski has shaped their testimonies into an eloquent whole, and while he never alludes to the totalitarian regime that ruled his native Poland during the same period, the analogy is impossible to ignore.
From the Publisher
"[The Emperor] transcends reportage, becoming a nightmare of power... An unforgettable, fiercely comic, and finally compassionate book."--Salman Rushdie
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
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Condition: Acceptable. Item in acceptable condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00103437343
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The Emperor : Downfall of an Autocrat
Published by
Harcourt Trade Publishers, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 5507429-6
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0151287716I5N00
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0151287716I3N10
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat
Published by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
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Hardcover
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Fair. Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, reigned from 1930 until he was overthrown by the army in 1974. While the fighting still raged, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland's leading foreign correspondent, traveled to Ethiopia to seek out and interview Selassie's servants and closest associates on how the Emperor had ruled and why he fell. This " sensitive, powerful. . .history" ("The New York Review of Books") is Kapuscinski's rendition of their accounts-- humorous, frightening, sad, groteque-- of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered netween hunger and starvation. Seller Inventory # CIN0151287716A
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: BookResQ., West Valley City, UT, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Good. Name inside. Dust jacket has wear around the edges with small tears. Mark on top edge. Priority Mail is available on this item. No international shipping. -2a-. Seller Inventory # E500424ksmug170331
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: FCD Books & More, Fargo, ND, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Good. Cloth 1/4 Binding with Pictorial Dust Jacket, DJ has some normal wear, Owner's Name inside, Otherwise pages are clean, tight & flat, Item Shrink-wrapped for additional protection. Seller Inventory # 073025002
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (English and Polish Edition)
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York., 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Doss-Haus Books, Redondo Beach, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Hardcover, 1983, 1st edition. Dust jacket and boards in fine condition. Binding firm. Slight foxing to top edge. Pages unmarked and clean. (164 pages) Size: 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Book. Seller Inventory # 023907
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The Emperor: Downfall of An Autocrat
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: zenosbooks, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
hardcover. Condition: Very Good in Dustjacket. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. San Diego. 1983. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0151287716. Translated from the Polish by William R. Brand & Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand. 180 pages. hardcover. Jacket photo: United Press International. Jacket design by Bob Silverman. keywords: Africa Ethiopia History Biography. DESCRIPTION - 'The Emperor is the nightmare that men of power dream when they are most alone. It is a bone-chilling, brilliant tale, as precise in its cut-glass literary style as in its political insights. Taut, yet brimming with aphorism, it is the ultimate re-creation of power in decay.' - Alvin Toffler. After Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974, Ryszard Kapuscinski - Poland's top foreign correspondent - went to Ethiopia to piece together a firsthand account of how the Emperor governed his country and why he fell from power. At great risk to himself, Kapuscinski interviewed members of the imperial circle who had gone into hiding. The result is this remarkable book, an extraordinary study of power anywhere. Humorous and grotesque, acute and moving, the stories of the Emperor's servants and associates portray a man utterly determined to preserve autocratic rule. They tell how he established a network of informants, pitted potential rivals against one another, cultivated his image as sole benefactor. The eyewitnesses describe autocracy's strengths and autocracy's flaws, the people around the Emperor who were 'on their knees - but with knives.' When The Emperor was published in Poland in 1978, it was widely viewed as an allegory of dictatorship in general. Critics saw its publication as a key event in shaping the consensus for reform in Poland, and the book spawned a score of stage adaptations in 1981 alone. Whether read as historical documentary or political allegory, The Emperor is a dazzling literary performance. inventory #4944. Seller Inventory # z4944
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The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat
Published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
ISBN 10: 0151287716
ISBN 13: 9780151287710
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Optimon Books, Gravesend, KENT, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Examines the reign and recent fall of Ethiopia's Haile Selassie through eyewitness accounts of former members of the Emperor's circle. Seller Inventory # 468989
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