Product Description

"The First Emperor" is the true story of Ying Zheng: the man who unified China, built the Great Wall, and whose tomb is guarded by the famous Terracotta Army. Ying Zheng was born to rule the world. Yet there were rumours he was not the son of the king but the child of a secret affair between a royal concubine and an ambitious minister. Crowned king of Qin - China's westernmost kingdom - six rival kings stood between him and victory. He invaded Qi, the Land of the Devout, looking for a mythical magical device that could bring down the power of the gods. Surviving an assassination attempt by a childhood friend, the Red Prince, he retaliated by destroying the Prince's kingdom. This new book by Jonathan Clements is the first outside Asia to tell the full story of the life, legends and laws of the "First Emperor". It exposes the intrigues and scandals of his family - his mother's plot to overthrow him, a revolt led by his stepfather, and the suspicious death of his half-brother - explores the immigration crisis that threatened to destroy his kingdom, and provides a terrifying glimpse of daily life in a land under absolute rule.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110292 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Jonathan Clements is the author, co-author or translator of over thirty books, including The Moon in the Pines, Confucius: A Biography and Pirate King: Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Customer Reviews

The rise and fall of Ying Zheng
I came to this book having seen a couple of documentaries on the First Emperor and so knew something of his history but this book goes into much greater detail about his life, the wider empire of China and the important figures in his life. Also detailing the events that led to the First Emperors birth and those following his death the book is not only a great source of information on the person of the First Emperor but also on the China of the period in general. The book also includes appendices on the portrayals of the First Emperor on film and TV, as well as family trees for the first Emperor and notes on names and titles of the period. Jonathan Clements does well to present the information in a well informed and easy to read manner that is accessible.

Excellent and easy to read book
Only half way through this book at the minute but will update review when finished.
Firstly the only real criticism I can come up with for this book and that is the photography’s of the emperor's works and wall hangings are in black and white. In this day photographs in hardback books should be in colour considering how much extra we pay for the hardback edition.
The pluses are many so far, the book is very well written, a lot of information is contained within an easy to read format. The author makes great judgements on his sources and isn’t afraid to let the read make up his own mind on his opinion. There is an almost stay to the next page feeling from this book, a feeling that going to bed without reading the next page will leave you with a bad nights sleep.
I can’t help but advise this book to anyone, have already advised my Grandmother on a purchase.

Good Read
This book is full of history and an honest and well researched account of the first Emperor of China. For Jonathan Clements this project must have been very difficult. To find and research on a topic where there are not many entries or much written about he has done well and wrote a informative book about the life of the very first Emperor of China.

After hard work the first emperor decided to be called an 'Emperor' rather then a king. Giving himself the name of the ruler of the world. It was his passion to rule the world and to capture as many countries as he could. He died young and was beginning to achieve his success. He wanted to hand over his reins to his son and after his closest associate changed the will of the first emperor, the wrong son was made Emperor. The son has predicted to loose all his father has achieved. The son that was supposed to be emperor was forced to commit suicide as he thought this was what his father wanted. The First emperor's dynasty lasted only a decade.

Worth the read and a true account of the Chinese history.