"The Empire and the Five Kings is a cri de coeur that draws upon lessons from history and the eternal touchstones of human culture to reveal the stakes facing the West as America retreats from its leadership role, a process that did not begin with Donald Trump's presidency and is not likely to end with him. The crisis is one whose roots can be found as far back as antiquity and whose resolution will require the West to find a new way forward if its principles and values are to survive."--Jacket flap.

"Originally published in France in 2018 by Éditions Grasset"--Title page verso. Includes index.

Prologue: On Dove's feet, the Kurds -- The latest news from the empire. Hegel's ghost ; How the word came to America ; Lest I forget you, Jerusalem, Aeneas, Virgil ; Jeremy Bentham and the web ; Thus spake the empire of the eye and of nothingness -- Five kingdoms on the offensive. The earth shook in Kurdistan ; Herodotus's trap ; Dante, Abraham, and the war of the five kings ; The brown wave ; The specters' ball -- Epilogue: Where does the sea go at ebb tide?.