Atlas of Empires tells the story of how and why the great empires of history came into being, operated, and ultimately declined, and it discusses the future of the empire in today's globalized world. This book features 60 beautiful and detailed maps of the empires' territories at different stages of their existence, and it organizes them thematically to reflect the different driving forces behind empires throughout history (such as faith, nomadic culture, nationhood, and capitalism). Each section discusses the rise and fall of the empires that existed in a region: *Government and society *Wealth and technology *War and military force *Religious beliefs *And more! From the earliest empires of the Sumerians and the Pharaohs to the modern empires of the USSR and the European Union, this is a story that reveals how empires are created and organized, how later empires resolve the problems of governance faced by earlier empires, and how the political and cultural legacies of ancient empires are still felt today.