Ethiopia possesses a legendary past where powerful emperors ruled as supreme autocrats, and (through relentless struggle) successfully fought the efforts of Europeans to colonize their lands. Indeed Haile Selassie, a very slight man in stature and Living God' of Ethiopia, truly exemplified the royal mold of rulers of the past in the ancient empire (Kapuscinski 6). He was so loved that believers in his cult of character founded a religion upon his life. Rastafarians, which was Selassie's former name (Ras Tafari), believe that he was God's prophet and that Ethiopia is their kingdom on Earth. Its belief in a singular deity mimicked Ethiopia's own experiences with government, which was a one-ruler system. Yet, there were and are still many critics who do not share the Rastafarians' grandiose view of Selassie. In fact, Selassie and his regime robbed and despoiled Ethiopia of its meager wealth in which he was no transmissometer from the gods nor qualified as a fervid ruler to progress his poor country. Ryszard Kapuscinski uniquely authors The Emperor through the perspectives of nobles', dignitaries', and servants' views and what their thoughts and perceptions were of Selassie's nefarious reign as Emperor. These standpoints are from unpretentious servants in the palace to conceited high-seated palace officers and ministers in the government. Haile Selassie, like other monarchs throughout Africa and around the world both past and future, developed a cult of character' that blinded most of the government to the causatums of his reign in which spawned a backlash of scorn concerning the infrastructure and total situation of the nation and ultimately a revolution among amongst a underground faction in the military, poor, and college students. Furthermore, Selassie's performance, micromanaging, and political maneuvering of his government will be scrutinized and evaluated through subjective views (which suspense subtly grew throughout the book as to how the inevitable fall finally came) inside the unsanctified palace.
