The glory of the empire
Subtitle: a novel, a history
By: Jean D'Ormesson ; translated from the French by Barbara Bray ; introduction by Daniel Mendelsohn
Contributors: Bray, Barbara, translator
Series: New York Review Books classics; New York Review Books classics
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 370
ISBN-13: 9781590179659
Subjects: Fiction
Work titles: Gloire de l'Empire
Description: "The Glory of the Empire is the rich and absorbing history of an extraordinary empire, at one point a rival to Rome. Rulers such as Prince Basil of Onessa, who founded the Empire but whose treacherous ways made him a byword for infamy, and the romantic Alexis the Bastard, who dallied in the fleshpots of Egypt, studied Taoism and Buddhism, returned to save the Empire from civil war, and then retired "to learn how to die," come alive in The Glory of the Empire, along with generals, politicians, prophets, scoundrels, and others. D'Ormesson also goes into the daily life of the Empire, its popular customs, and its contribution to the arts and the sciences, which, as he demonstrates, exercised an influence on the world as a whole, from East to West, and whose repercussions are still felt today. But it is all fiction, a thought experiment worthy of Jorge Luis Borges, and in the end The Glory of the Empire emerges as a great shimmering mirage, filling us with wonder even as it makes us wonder at the fugitive nature of power and the meaning of history itself"--
Notes: Translation from the French of: La Gloire de l'Empire.

"Originally published in French as La Gloire de l'Empire. This translation first published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc." -- Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.