{"title":"Books by Dominic Lieven","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780141984452","title":"In the Shadow of the Gods","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the acclaimed Wolfson Prize-winning author, a dazzling history of the world's emperors\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. In practice they ran the gamut from being some of the most remarkable men who ever lived, to being some of the worst and least remarkable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dominic Lieven's marvellous new book, \u003ci\u003eIn the Shadow of the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e, is the first to grapple seriously with this extraordinary phenomenon. Across the world peoples, willingly or unwillingly, fell into orbit around figures who reshaped or destroyed entire societies, imposed religions and invaded rivals. Lieven describes the anatomy of imperial monarchy and the principles by which it functioned. He compares the great emperors of antiquity, the caliphs and the warrior-emperors of the steppe before he turns to the Habsburg, Russian, Ottoman, Mughal and Chinese emperors, packing the book with extraordinary stories, astute observations and a sense of both delight and horror at these individuals' antics. The entire breadth of extreme human behaviour is here - from warlords to patrons of the arts, from political genius to feeble incapacity and pathological violence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As one of the great experts both on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history's grandest and most dismaying figures.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43071147049138,"sku":"9780141984452","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685923234165,"sku":"9780241284421","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141984452.jpg?v=1792599165"},{"product_id":"9780141399744","title":"Towards the Flame","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTLS \u003c\/i\u003eBOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFINANCIAL TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBOOKS OF THE YEAR 2015\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE PUSHKIN HOUSE RUSSIAN BOOK PRIZE 2016 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Magisterial... reveals how much is at stake for world order in Ukraine and Syria.' Rachel Polonsky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'As much as anything, World War I turned on the fate of Ukraine'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe decision to go to war in 1914 had catastrophic consequences for Russia. The result was revolution, civil war and famine in 1917-20, followed by decades of communist rule. Dominic Lieven's powerful and original book, based on exhaustive and unprecedented study in Russian and many other foreign archives, explains why this suicidal decision was made and explores the world of the men who made it, thereby consigning their entire class to death or exile and making their country the victim of a uniquely terrible political experiment under Lenin and Stalin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDominic Lieven is a Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College,Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the British Academy. His book Russia Against Napoleon (Penguin) won the Wolfson Prize for History and the Prize of the Fondation Napoleon for the best foreign work on the Napoleonic era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224864272757,"sku":"9780141399744","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141399744_6479bd36-9c9a-4359-ab2d-4d501c2e72a9.jpg?v=1786011484"},{"product_id":"9780141984605","title":"Russia Against Napoleon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A compulsive page-turner ... a triumph of brilliant storytelling ... an instant classic that is an awesome, remarkable and exuberant achievement' \u003ci\u003eSimon Sebag Montefiore \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Wolfson History Prize and shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the summer of 1812 Napoleon, the master of Europe, marched into Russia with the largest army ever assembled, confident that he would sweep everything before him. Yet less than two years later his empire lay in ruins, and Russia had triumphed. This is the first history to explore in depth Russia's crucial role in the Napoleonic Wars, re-creating the epic battle between two empires as never before.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDominic Lieven writes with great panache and insight to describe from the Russians' viewpoint how they went from retreat, defeat and the burning of Moscow to becoming the new liberators of Europe; the consequences of which could not have been more important.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUltimately this book shows, memorably and brilliantly, Russia embarking on its strange, central role in Europe's existence, as both threat and protector - a role that continues, in all its complexity, into our own lifetimes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56225235403125,"sku":"9780141984605","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141984605_80c299a0-aeb6-4230-a543-3033c4e41d64.jpg?v=1786011056"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-dominic-lieven.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}