Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Imperialism
The Years of Rice and Salt
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Alternate history of a world without Europeans, where new cultures and civilizations rise.
The story is divided into ten parts. Book One, Awake to Emptiness , begins with Bold and Psin, scouts in Timur 's army, discovering a Magyar city where all the inhabitants have died from a plague. ... (Wikipedia)
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.
In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)
Tai-Pan
by James Clavell
Epic tale of struggle for power and control in Hong Kong during the 19th century.
The novel begins following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large natural ... (Wikipedia)
Heart of Darkness and Other Tales
by Joseph Conrad
A collection of Conrad's most famous works, including the haunting "Heart of Darkness" and other tales of adventure and exploration.
Aboard the Nellie , anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend , Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors how he became captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company. As a child, Marlow ... (Wikipedia)
A Passage to India
by E.M. Forster
Exploring imperial tensions between colonial India and Britain in the early 20th century.
A young British schoolmistress, Adela Quested, and her elderly friend, Mrs. Moore, visit the fictional city of Chandrapore, British India . Adela is to decide if she wants to marry Mrs. Moore's son, ... (Wikipedia)
Quo Vadis
by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Epic tale of ancient Rome, a love story between a Christian woman and a Roman soldier.
This glorious saga unfolds against the backdrop of ancient Rome–from the Forum to the Coliseum, from banquet halls to summer retreats in Naples, from the luxurious houses of the nobility to the ... (Goodreads)
The Romanovs: 1613-1918
by Simon Sebag Montefiore
An exploration of the 300-year rule of the Romanov dynasty, from its rise to its fall.
The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world’s surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world’s greatest ... (Goodreads)
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
by David Mitchell
An epic tale of love and adventure set in an 18th century Japanese trading port.
The novel begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in the harbor of Nagasaki . It tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is ... (Wikipedia)
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
A journey into the depths of the human psyche, exploring the darkness of colonialism.
Aboard the Nellie , anchored in the River Thames near Gravesend , Charles Marlow tells his fellow sailors how he became captain of a river steamboat for an ivory trading company. As a child, Marlow ... (Wikipedia)
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra
by Helen Rappaport
Chronicles the lives of Tsar Nicholas II's daughters, and their struggle to survive the Russian Revolution.
A 12-WEEK NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Helen Rappaport paints a compelling portrait of the doomed grand duchesses." —,People, magazine "The public spoke of the sisters in a gentile, superficial manner, ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Goblin Emperor
by Katherine Addison
A young outcast's ascent to the throne of a vast empire, overcoming obstacles of his lineage.
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line ... (Goodreads)
The Wretched of the Earth
by Frantz Fanon
A political analysis of colonialism and its effects on the global underclass.
A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and ... (Goodreads)
King Leopold's Ghost
by Adam Hochschild
A harrowing account of the colonization of the Congo and the exploitation of its people.
In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a ... (Goodreads)
Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction
by Joseph Conrad
A searing exploration of colonialism, told through the lens of a journey up the Congo River.
Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction , by Joseph Conrad, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general ... (Barnes & Noble)
Boxers
by Gene Luen Yang
A young Chinese boy's quest to save his village from foreign invaders during the Boxer Rebellion.
China, 1898. Bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers roam the countryside, bullying and robbing Chinese peasants. Little Bao has had enough. Harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods, he ... (Goodreads)
The Island of Dr. Moreau
by H.G. Wells
A shipwrecked man's encounters with a mad scientist's experiments in animal-human hybridization.
The Island of Doctor Moreau is the account of Edward Prendick, an Englishman with a scientific education who survives a shipwreck in the southern Pacific Ocean. A passing ship called Ipecacuanha ... (Wikipedia)
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia
by Candace Fleming
A detailed account of the Romanov family's rise to power, their downfall, and the events leading up to their tragic end.
Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and ... (Goodreads)
The Heretic Queen
by Michelle Moran
The story of Nefertari, an ambitious and powerful queen of Ancient Egypt.
In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family’s past and remake history. The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth ... (Goodreads)
Prelude to Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
A powerful ruler's journey to save his crumbling empire, and protect humanity from a mysterious force.
Prelude to Foundation is set in the year 12,020 G.E. (Galactic Era), during the rocky reign of the Emperor Cleon I. It starts with Seldon's presentation of a paper at a mathematics convention ... (Wikipedia)
Shadows of the Empire
by Steve Perry
An intergalactic struggle between the forces of evil and good, as a rogue smuggler attempts to save the galaxy.
Here is the untold story of the events that took place between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi : a novel in which Darth Vader still lives–and battles a villain as powerful ... (Goodreads)
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
by T.E. Lawrence
A first-hand account of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an unusual and rich work. It encompasses an account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, ... (Goodreads)
The Twentieth Wife
by Indu Sundaresan
Epic tale of a powerful Mughal Empress, set against a backdrop of political intrigue and personal drama.
An enchanting seventeenth-century epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most legendary and controversial empresses – a woman whose ... (Goodreads)
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
by Neil Sheehan
A detailed account of the Vietnam War, and one man's role in it.
This passionate, epic account of the Vietnam War centres on Lt Col John Paul Vann, whose story illuminates America's failures & disillusionment in SE Asia. A field adviser to the army when US ... (Goodreads)
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
by Vladimir Lenin
Lenin's analysis of imperialism as the final stage of capitalism, where monopolies dominate and exploit colonies for profit.
'Globalisation' is the buzzword of the 1990s. VI Lenin's Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism was one of the first attempts to account for the increasing importance of the world market in the ... (Goodreads)
Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina
by Robert Graves
A historical account of the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius and his controversial wife Messalina.
With the same brilliance that characterized his classic I, Claudius , Robert Graves continues the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emperor in spite of himself and his handicaps. Claudius the ... (Goodreads)
Nostromo
by Joseph Conrad
A gripping tale of greed and political intrigue in a fictional South American country.
Nostromo is set in the South American country of Costaguana, and more specifically in that country's Occidental Province and its port city of Sulaco. Though Costaguana is a fictional nation, its ... (Wikipedia)
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
by Peter Frankopan
An epic narrative of the discover of the world's trade routes, spanning more than 3,000 years.
The New Silk Roads takes a fresh look at the relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the ancient trade routes today. The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and ... (Goodreads)
Flashman
by George MacDonald Fraser
A cowardly British soldier's misadventures as he navigates the volatile world of 19th century imperial politics.
Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners ... (Goodreads)
Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer
by Joseph Conrad
Exploration of the darkness of human nature and the corruption of power.
Heart Of Darkness . The story of the civilized, enlightened Mr. Kurtz who embarks on a harrowing "night journey" into the savage heart of Africa, only to find his dark and evil soul. The Secret ... (Goodreads)
Kim
by Rudyard Kipling
An orphan boy navigates the complexities of colonial India, espionage, and his own identity in this classic adventure novel.
Kim (Kimball O'Hara) , is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier (Kimball O'Hara sr., a former colour sergeant and later an employee of an Indian railway company) and a poor Irish mother (a former ... (Wikipedia)
Nicholas and Alexandra
by Robert K. Massie
An epic saga about the last Tsar of Russia and the fall of the Romanov dynasty.
The story of the love that ended an empire. In this commanding book, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Robert K. Massie sweeps readers back to the extraordinary world of Imperial Russia to tell the story ... (Goodreads)
Chapterhouse: Dune
by Frank Herbert
A family's quest to restore balance to a chaotic universe, while uncovering secrets of the past.
The Bene Gesserit find themselves the target of the Honored Matres, whose conquest of the Old Empire is almost complete. The Matres are seeking to assimilate the technology and superhuman skills of ... (Wikipedia)
House Corrino
by Brian Herbert
A political epic of the royal family at the center of a grand interstellar empire.
One year after the War of Assassins , Duke Leto Atreides sponsors an assault on Ix to reclaim the planet for House Vernius , while his concubine Jessica is pregnant with his son. Emperor Shaddam IV ... (Wikipedia)
The Word for World Is Forest
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A sci-fi novella set on a planet where an alien species is exploited by humans.
The Word for World is Forest begins from the point of view of Captain Davidson, who is the commander of a logging camp named Smith camp. Many native Athsheans are used as slave labor at the camp, and ... (Wikipedia)
Embassytown
by China Miéville
Exploring a distant alien city and unraveling its mysteries.
Embassytown takes place mostly in the city of the title, on the planet Arieka. Embassytown exists on the very edge of the "Manchmal" (from the German for "sometimes"), which is suspected to be the ... (Wikipedia)
Empress Orchid
by Anchee Min
A young girl's rise to power as the last empress of China.
To rescue her family from poverty and avoid marrying her slope-shouldered cousin, seventeen-year-old Orchid competes to be one of the Emperor's wives. When she is chosen as a lower-ranking concubine ... (Goodreads)
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
Explorers' epic journey to find a lost African kingdom and its legendary treasure.
H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines has entertained generations of readers since its first publication in 1885. Following a mysterious map of dubious reliability, a small group of men trek into ... (Goodreads)
The Man Who Would Be King
by Rudyard Kipling
Two ex-soldiers' daring journey to forge a kingdom in a remote corner of India.
The narrator of the story is an Indian journalist in 19th century [Bharat] India—Kipling himself, in all but name. Whilst on a tour of some Indian native states he meets two scruffy adventurers, ... (Wikipedia)
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance
by Noam Chomsky
Examination of US foreign policy, arguing for the need to confront corporate power and militarism.
An immediate national bestseller, Hegemony or Survival demonstrates how, for more than half a century the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the ... (Goodreads)
Against the Day
by Thomas Pynchon
A sprawling epic following the lives of various characters across time and space, exploring themes of science, politics, and mysticism.
Nearly all reviewers of the book mention the byzantine nature of the plot. Louis Menand in, The New Yorker, gives a simple description: , As to the multitude of plot dead-ends, pauses and confusing ... (Wikipedia)
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
by Scott Anderson
A biography of T.E. Lawrence, a British intelligence officer who played a key role in shaping the Middle East during World War I.
A thrilling and revelatory narrative of one of the most epic and consequential periods in 20th century history – the Arab Revolt and the secret “great game” to control the Middle East The Arab Revolt ... (Goodreads)
Cleopatra's Daughter
by Michelle Moran
A historical account of the life of Cleopatra's daughter during the fall of the Egyptian empire.
From the internationally bestselling author of, Nefertiti, comes the tumultuous story of Antony and Celopatra's daughter, Selene. The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love ... (Barnes & Noble)
Waiting for the Barbarians
by J.M. Coetzee
A magistrate's moral crisis when faced with the abuse of power by the oppressive Empire.
The story is narrated in the first person by the unnamed magistrate of a settlement that exists on the territorial frontier of "The Empire". The Magistrate's rather peaceful existence comes to an end ... (Wikipedia)
Paris, 1919: Six Months that Changed the World
by Margaret MacMillan
An account of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and its lasting effects on the modern world.
'Without question, Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919 is the most honest and engaging history ever written about those fateful months after World War I when the maps of Europe were redrawn. Brimming ... (Goodreads)
Genghis: Birth of an Empire
by Conn Iggulden
Epic tale of a determined man's rise to power, uniting many nomadic tribes into a powerful Mongol nation.
He was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Temujin's young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts: the betrayal of his father by a ... (Goodreads)
An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India
by Shashi Tharoor
A scathing critique of British colonialism in India, exposing the exploitation, violence, and destruction wrought by the empire.
In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire ... (Goodreads)
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
by Eduardo Galeano
Historical account of the exploitation of Latin America by foreign powers.
Open Veins of Latin America has a foreword written by Chilean writer Isabel Allende , followed by a preface by Galeano titled “In Defense of the World” and a series of acknowledgments. The book has ... (Wikipedia)
When the Lion Feeds
by Wilbur Smith
Epic adventure of two brothers in the African wilderness, facing danger and learning life lessons.
The novel begins in Natal in the 1870s, with the introduction of twin brothers Sean and Garrick, the sons of ranch owner Waite Courtney. After one of Sean's hunting accidents results in Garrick ... (Wikipedia)
طبائع الاستبداد ومصارع الاستعباد
by Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi
هذا بحث كتبه عبد الرحمن الكواكبي في موضوع الاستبداد مستعرضاً طبائعه وما ينطوي عليه من سلبيات تؤدي إلى خوف المستبد وإلى الاستيلاء الجبن على رغبته إلى جانب انعكاسات الاستبداد على جميع مناحي الحياة ... (Goodreads)
She: A History of Adventure
by H. Rider Haggard
A thrilling journey of a woman's search for her true identity, filled with adventure and danger.
On his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his ... (Goodreads)
Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
by Paul French
A gripping true crime story set in 1930s Peking, investigating the brutal murder of a young British woman.
Peking in 1937 is a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition. The Japanese are encircling the city, and the discovery of Pamela Werner's body sends a ... (Goodreads)
Jamrach's Menagerie
by Carol Birch
A young boy is hired to capture a rare dragon for a menagerie, leading him on a perilous journey.
At the age of eight, Jaffy Brown encounters a tiger escaped from the menagerie of Charles Jamrach , wandering about London's East End . Taken up in the tiger's jaws, he is rescued by Jamrach himself, ... (Wikipedia)
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