Great Empires: Illustrated Atlas

Hyslop and Daniels (co-authors, Almanac of World History) enhance their narrative snapshots of 31 empires in world history with an extensive array of maps, illustrations, photographs, and artwork. They convincingly develop the premise that most successful empires have certain strengths in common: military power, excellent civil servants, first-class communications, and efficacious incorporation of diverse populations. Generalist and encyclopedic rather than scholarly and narrow in its approach and focus, the atlas not only delves into the history of the most famous superpowers and eras, including the Persian dynasties, the Mongols, the Egyptians, the Incas, and the British Empire, but also covers less well-known cultures of North Africa and Southeast Asia. It is divided according to three main eras—the ancient world, the Middle Ages, and modern empires—and concludes with an epilogue on the collapse of modern empires. Included are a comprehensive time line, a bibliography of books and websites, and an index that lists pages with illustrations in bold—a very useful feature.