Kapuscinski has surely reworked and sharpened the accounts for effect they are too well written, and in some cases too finely balanced between irony and sarcasm. It is also a detail and evocative exploration of tyranny. The emperor by ryszard kapuscinski, paperback barnes. Ryszard kapuscinski, polish journalist and author born march 4, 1932, pinsk, pol. And with its use of anonymous contributors and lack of references it is hardly a work of history or a reliable source. A mesmerising cast of characters all servants to a despotic ruler on the brink of downfalltell this extraordinary fable of corruption, avarice and. Downfall of an autocrat, published in 1978, is polish journalist ryszard kapuscinskis analysis of the decline and fall of haile selassies regime in ethiopia. Between 1956 and 1981 when his credentials were stripped because of his support for the solidarity movement, kapuscinski. Books blog ryszard kapuscinski was a great storyteller, not a liar neal ascherson. The content of this book are easy to be understood. Critics of ryszard kapuscinskis books miss the point there is no sharp frontier between literature and.