Synopses & Reviews
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, grotesque of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered between hunger and starvation.
Review
"A stunning exhibit; the interview subjects...enunciated their memories of the days of Haile Selassie with a magical elegance that...achieves poetry and aphorism." John Updike, The New Yorker
Review
"[The Emperor] transcends reportage, becoming a nightmare of power... An unforgettable, fiercely comic, and finally compassionate book." Salman Rushdie
Review
"Kapuscinski transcends the limitations of journalism and writes withthe narrative power of a Conrad or Kipling or Orwell." Blake Morrison
Synopsis
A sensitive, powerful ... history (The New York Review of Books) of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered netween hunger and starvation.
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 is Kapuscinski's rendition of their accounts--humorous, frightening, sad, groteque.
Synopsis
This is Kapuscinski's rendition of Selassie's servants and closest associates accounts humorous, frightening, sad, grotesque of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered between hunger and starvation.
About the Author
Ryszard Kapuscinski is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's preeminent journalists, demonstrating an almost mystical ability to discover the odd or overlooked and incorporating these sometimes surreal details into narratives that go beyond mere reportage and enter the realm of literature. His works includes Another Day of Life, The Shadow of the Sun, Imperium, and The Soccer War.