The Emperor

The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat, published in 1978, is Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński's analysis of the decline and fall of Haile Selassie's regime in Ethiopia. In 1974, while the Ethiopian Army was still busy consolidating power, Kapuściński "traveled to Ethiopia to seek out and interview Selassie's servants and closest associates on how the Emperor had ruled and why he fell." In large part, the book is a study of the workings of a royal court. According to some critics, the book serves as a political allegory for Edward Gierek's communist government in Poland during the late 1970s. Contents The Throne Section one focuses on the constitution of Emperor Haile Selassie's imperial court. It's Coming, It's Coming Section two focuses on the attempted coup led by Mengistu Neway on December 13, 1960, and its repercussions.