T O P I C S I N T H E R I S E A N D F A L L O F E M P I R E S
Language is a powerful shaping force of civilization, and each of the world’s languages is changing constantly. The way we speak has a profound effect on – and is itself profoundly affected by – other vectors of empire. Here, a master historian looks at how a “mother” tongue was ended (but not really) by powerful forces that, at first glance, seem to have
In many cases, we can see a clear link between architecture and the cycles of empire. There can be little question that the great 17th century Ottoman architect Sinan is an imperial architect, a rising-empire artist whose work seems to exist to glorify
It is easy to forget what a cultural sensation technology can produce – and perhaps no instance was greater than that of the Gatling gun.
With the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the English were exposed to a terrifying Gothic novel that expressed the fears of the age: Questions of invasion, identity, and war were entangled in a dramatic story about vampires feeding on women and
A brief comparison of the work of two authors who lived almost a century apart reveals two literatures driven by a common concern with the processes and consequence of empire. A review of their lives shows that
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