After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400–2000
John Darwin
"After Tamerlane takes a fresh look at our global past. Our idea of world history is still dominated by the view from the West: it is Europe's expansion that takes centre-stage. But for much of the 600-year span of this book, Asia's great empires seemed more than a match for the intruders from Europe. It took a revolution in Eurasia to change this balance of power, although it never did so completely. The Chinese empire, against all the odds, has survived to this day. The British empire came and went. The Nazi empire was crushed almost at once. The rise, fall and endurance of empires - and the causes behind them - remain one of the most fascinating puzzles in world history."--BOOK JACKET.
Award History
1 wins · 2 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfson History PrizeMajor | 2008 | Winner | Official source |
| Cundill History PrizeMajor | 2008 | Longlist | Secondary source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
02 Central places
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.
- Europe42%
03 Suggested argument
No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.
This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.
World history is commonly dominated by a Western view centered on Europe’s expansion, but Asia’s empires often matched or exceeded European intruders’ power until later shifts in Eurasia.
Model confidence 46%
04 Reading orientation
50 / 100 academicTrade / academic crossover
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 48%.