Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World
Paperback, 160 pages
Published April 3, 2025 by Pushkin Press.
A chilling assessment of international politics in our time, from the bestselling author of The Wizard of the Kremlin
'The one book you absolutely need to read in order to understand current politics' ? Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.
'Immensely readable, mordantly ironic and unspring' ? Michael Ignatiff
'Da Empoli issues a warning from history, that the Borgia poisoners are back as tech bros. Brilliant, acidly witty, terrifying'? John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin
HOW DO YOU DEFEND DEMOCRACY WHEN THE RULES HAVE CHANGED?
Presidents turning into monarchs. Tech tycoons and autocrats intent on global regime change. Armies of cyber trolls.
The old order is at an end. The Hour of the Predator has come.
Former political advisor Giuliano da Empoli takes us on an insider's journey through this new reality, from the Glass Palace of the UN to the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, from top secret meetings to …
A chilling assessment of international politics in our time, from the bestselling author of The Wizard of the Kremlin
'The one book you absolutely need to read in order to understand current politics' ? Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.
'Immensely readable, mordantly ironic and unspring' ? Michael Ignatiff
'Da Empoli issues a warning from history, that the Borgia poisoners are back as tech bros. Brilliant, acidly witty, terrifying'? John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin
HOW DO YOU DEFEND DEMOCRACY WHEN THE RULES HAVE CHANGED?
Presidents turning into monarchs. Tech tycoons and autocrats intent on global regime change. Armies of cyber trolls.
The old order is at an end. The Hour of the Predator has come.
Former political advisor Giuliano da Empoli takes us on an insider's journey through this new reality, from the Glass Palace of the UN to the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, from top secret meetings to violent power struggles. We encounter dictators and tyrants, strongmen and AI billionaires- geopolitical predators, and the flailing leaders who desperately try to appease them.
Looking past the useless anecdotes of the author's time amongst world leaders, the meat of this book is when he draws parallels from leaders in politics and technology to Cesare Borgia in Machiavelli's time. Each chapter focuses on a different modern figure, resulting in shallow comparisons and reflections.
