Rise and Fall: A Brief History of 10 Great Empires

In his book “Rise and Fall of 10 World Empires,” the renowned British historian and philosopher Paul Strathern tells about the origins and development of the 10 largest empires in world history—from Mesopotamia of the Tigris and Euphrates to the United States, from the British Isles to the Mediterranean cradle of several powerful states. With this book, the reader can take a tour through a five-thousand-year history of humanity in just ten concise, meaningful, and witty accounts. The Russian Empire is also included in this “inner circle” of great powers—an empire that the author, following Winston Churchill, calls full of riddles up to the present day.

Why? Readers will find out in the book. Each chapter contains unexpected facts that will help readers better understand the culture of the described country and look at it from a new perspective. For example, few people know that in 1290 AD the Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing calculated the length of the year as 365.2425 days—within 26 seconds of its current measurement.