The empire and the five kings : America's abdication and the fate of the world / Bernard-Henri Lévy ; translated by Steven B. Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lévy, Bernard-Henri, author.

Contributor:

Kennedy, Steven B., translator.

Standardized Title:

Empire et les cinq rois. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

World politics--21st century.

World politics.

United States--Foreign relations--21st century.

United States.

International relations.

PHILOSOPHY / Political.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Security.

Local Subjects:

PHILOSOPHY / Political.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Security.

Genre:

Nonfiction.

Physical Description:

261 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2019.

Summary:

"The Empire and the Five Kings is a cri de coeur that draws upon lessons from history and the eternal touchstones of human culture to reveal the stakes facing the West as America retreats from its leadership role, a process that did not begin with Donald Trump's presidency and is not likely to end with him. The crisis is one whose roots can be found as far back as antiquity and whose resolution will require the West to find a new way forward if its principles and values are to survive."--Jacket flap.

Contents:

Prologue: on Dove's feet, the Kurds

The latest news from the empire. Hegel's ghost ; How the word came to America ; Lest I forget you, Jerusalem, Aeneas, Virgil ; Jeremy Bentham and the web ; Thus spake the empire of the eye and of nothingness

Five kingdoms on the offensive. The earth shook in Kurdistan ; Herodotus's trap ; Dante, Abraham, and the war of the five kings ; The brown wave ; The specters' ball

Epilogue: where does the sea go at ebb tide?

Notes:

"Originally published in France in 2018 by Éditions Grasset"--Title page verso.

Includes index.

ISBN:

1250203015

9781250203014

OCLC:

1043391947