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About the authorGabriel Martinez-Gros, professor of medieval history of the Muslim world at Paris West University Nanterre, is one of the leading experts on classical Islam. He succeeded LucetteValensi as director of the l'Institutd'études de l'Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman (IISMM/EHESS) (Institute of studies on Islam and Muslim societies) until 2002. Notable  publications include: IbnKhaldûn et les sept vies de l'Islam (Sindbad, 2006) and L'Islam en dissidence (Seuil, 2004, avec LucetteValensi; reedited in "Points Histoire" as L'Islam, l'islamisme et l'Occident, 2013).Synopsis: This quite original book is a small study of universal history. It could also be considered a philosophy of history. In a clear and accessible style, the author transports us through centuries and continents to deliver a surprising and stimulating account of the rise and fall of empires, from Rome to the empires of China, through Islam, the Mongols and Mughal India. This bold reading, which places at its heart the issues of violence and peace, and contrasts the peaceful core of the empire against its violent fringes, is inspired by the thoughts of a great theorist of the State and of medieval Islam who lived in the 14th century, IbnKhaldun. This universal view, as significant as Marx or Tocqueville, probably one of the few not born in the West, is more than a thread in the text, but the frame for this work, which takes us through the history of imperial ages and fully intends to point out how everything that is exceptional about out democratic, post-industrial world is also ephemeral.