Absolute Power: The Real Lives of Europe’s Most Infamous Rulers
Jul 2006 · Arcturus Publishing
4.5star
10 reviewsreport
Ebook
208
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
shoppingmode50% price drop on Oct 1
About this ebook
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power"
-Abraham Lincoln
Throughout history, all monarchs have lived with the strange dichotomy of simultaneously being human and more than human. In our time, when monarchies seem little more than tourist curiosities and democracy is taken for granted, it is easy to forget just how much power pre-democratic rulers once wielded.
The rulers and holders of political power in this book were all possessed of vast - in many cases, absolute - power: power which was often exercised arbitrarily and unjustly.
What unites the figures in this book is that they all, in one way or another, failed to live up to the extravagantly high hopes invested in them and, as a consequence, have been judged harshly by history.
A few, such as George III, might have been remembered more kindly were it not for mental illness changing their status from that of hero to villain. Some, like Louis XVI, were unfairly transformed into monsters by hostile propaganda, while others, such as Peter the Great, have been both celebrated as heroes and denounced as tyrants, often in the same breath. Finally, there are those rulers who, like Caligula or Ivan the Terrible, may well fully deserve their evil reputations.
Absolute Power is a study in how often rulers were carried away or overwhelmed by their exalted status, while a few were even driven over the edge into madness.
-Abraham Lincoln
Throughout history, all monarchs have lived with the strange dichotomy of simultaneously being human and more than human. In our time, when monarchies seem little more than tourist curiosities and democracy is taken for granted, it is easy to forget just how much power pre-democratic rulers once wielded.
The rulers and holders of political power in this book were all possessed of vast - in many cases, absolute - power: power which was often exercised arbitrarily and unjustly.
What unites the figures in this book is that they all, in one way or another, failed to live up to the extravagantly high hopes invested in them and, as a consequence, have been judged harshly by history.
A few, such as George III, might have been remembered more kindly were it not for mental illness changing their status from that of hero to villain. Some, like Louis XVI, were unfairly transformed into monsters by hostile propaganda, while others, such as Peter the Great, have been both celebrated as heroes and denounced as tyrants, often in the same breath. Finally, there are those rulers who, like Caligula or Ivan the Terrible, may well fully deserve their evil reputations.
Absolute Power is a study in how often rulers were carried away or overwhelmed by their exalted status, while a few were even driven over the edge into madness.
Ratings and reviews
4.5
10 reviews
Mario Rodriguez
- Flag inappropriate
June 1, 2024
Good read
Dorothy Lowry
- Flag inappropriate
July 19, 2014
Absolute power
About the author
Chad Denton is a writer and historian. He is author of a number of books, including Dead End and The War on Sex: Western Repression from the Torah to Victoria. He lives in Madison Heights, Virginia.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
