The glory of the empire : a novel, a history / Jean D'Ormesson ; translated from the French by Barbara Bray ; introduction by Daniel Mendelsohn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ormesson, Jean d', 1925-2017, author.

Contributor:

Bray, Barbara, translator.

Series:

New York Review Books classics

Standardized Title:

Gloire de l'Empire. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Byzantine Empire--Fiction.

Byzantine Empire.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

xviii, 374 pages, xxii ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York Review Books, [1974]

Language Note:

Translated from the French.

Summary:

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-374) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Ormesson, Jean d', 1925- Glory of the empire.

ISBN:

9781590179659

159017965X

OCLC:

927165927

Online:

Cover image