The Emperor

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  • Author: Ryszard Kapuscinski
  • Publisher: Penguin
  • Catalogue: 143997
  • Size: 20x13cm
“The Emperor” is a classic piece of reportage, beginning as it must after the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974, which ended the ancient rule of the Abyssinian monarchy; Ryszard Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia and sought out surviving courtiers to listen to their stories. Here, their eloquent and ironic voices depict the lavish, corrupt world they had known - from the rituals, hierarchies and intrigues at court to the vagaries of a ruler who maintained absolute power over his impoverished people.

Since his death in January of 2007, many critics have voiced their view that Kapuscinski may have invented, or modified some of his reportage for dramatic effect. Whether or not this is true we will never know, but what is obvious from this text is that his literary approach to his factual writing gave way to some startling insight and emotional impact that would have otherwise been lacking in a more conventional ‘straight’ journalistic approach.

Dramatic and mesmerising, “The Emperor” is one of the great works of reportage and a haunting epitaph on the last moments of a dying regime, a regime that seems to be the model for many an African leader since.