Book Review: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
Three years ago, we were treated to Skywalker: A Family A War a biograhpy-style book by Kristen Baver that chronicled the life and times of the Skywalker family in a non-fiction style. I appreciated the approach as a way to consolidate both on-screen and ancillary stories into one book, and honestly for such an expansive universe, I couldn’t believe it was the first “in-universe” book we had. Earlier this month, however, DK released another book of the sort: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, where Dr. Chris Kempshall tells the story of, well, the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire.
Taking on the character of Beaumont Kin, the book chronicles Palpatine’s rise to power and the rule of the Empire, making it all the way to the days of the First Order and the Final Order, and much like Skywalker: A Family at War, consolidates canon events from across the screen and the page to form a complete picture. Or rather, as complete as can be.
The way Kempshall situates his book in the midst of an era of storytelling that is still ongoing is masterful. Since this is history, and the history of a totalitarian regime at that, it’s very easy to see why some records would be incomplete or missing, and why some details of rebel activity are fuzzier than others. I especially found myself wondering how the book would even broach the subject of Andor when, as of writing this, no one outside of the audience at Star Wars Celebration has even seen a trailer for Season 2.
But the characters we all know and love aren’t really the focus here — unless Jerjerrod or Veers are really your jam — but rather the focus is on the broad strokes of how Palpatine rose to power. The focus is the context of the galaxy at large, and how certain policies and politics and discontent was spun and used by the government to seize power.
As fun as it is to read a “historical” text set in the galaxy far, far away, the part of the book that truly astounded me was how blatantly non-fictional it was. I don’t mean in that it was written as though it’s a non-fiction book, I mean in that there are moments where it reads less like Beaumont Kin chronicling things for the future of the galaxy, and more like a direct appeal to the reader to observe how these totalitarian governments rise, and the very real way they seize power, showing how the game is over and the battle is lost long before liberty dies with thunderous applause.
It’s not all grim and serious of course. Just the fact that an in-universe history book exists at all is a delight, and I hope it’s a sign of more of its kind to come. But nor is it the kind of text that allows for a superficial, surface level reading. Star Wars is, and always has been political, and this book is the most definitive distillation of that.
The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire is on shelves now. Special thank you to DK Books for the advance copy for review purposes.
