2009 Outstanding Academic Title

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

Undoubtedly a great work, a book that goes truly global in chronicling the history of one of our abiding concerns: the pull and limitations of absolute power. It forces the reader to rethink commonly held assumptions about our collective past. For that alone, it should be read.

St. Petersburg Times

A work of massive erudition.

Guardian (UK)

A wonderful and imaginative addition to the select library of books on world history that one really wants to possess, and dip into, for ever.

Sunday Times (London)

Nicely balanced between sweeping overview and illuminating detail, this lucid survey complicates and deepens our understanding of modern world history.

Publishers Weekly