The Emperor

Synopsis

Addis Ababa, 1974. The gilded halls of the Imperial Palace crumble as revolution sweeps through Ethiopia’s streets.

The Emperor chronicles the fall of Haile Selassie through a series of intimate interviews with former palace servants and officials. With biting wit and keen observation, Kapuściński exposes the absurdities of absolute power and the decay of an autocratic regime. His unique blend of journalism and literary flair paints a vivid portrait of a court trapped in time, where sycophants polish the emperor’s shoes with their cheeks and servants live in constant fear of the “imperial anger.”

The book’s stage adaptation at London’s Royal Court Theatre sparked an unlikely protest that epitomized its controversial impact. As Salman Rushdie recounts, “Outside of the Royal Court Theatre, in Sloane Square, there was a protest that only Kapuscinski could have conjured up.” On one side stood “ganja-smoking Rastas” who viewed Selassie as divine; on the other, “cigar-smoking Ethiopians” from the old monarchist party. This surreal scene, uniting vastly different groups in their objection to Kapuściński’s portrayal, led Rushdie to conclude, “this book must be doing something right.”