My wide, wild ride culminated in a return to my small apartment in Addis Ababa from an endless round of American parties, to find an imperial footman awaiting me with an actual silver tray. The object on the tray was a supremely redundant grace note: a thick white business card printed by Stevens of Edinburgh, bearing the imperial arms and the name Haile Selassie I. Underneath, where an ordinary man might put "Attorney at Law" or "Chief Financial Officer" it read: "King of Kings, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia."