The famous British historian and philosopher Paul Stretern in his book “The Rise and Fall of 10 World Empires” tells about the birth and development of the 10 largest empires in world history. from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the United States, from the British Isles to the Mediterranean cradle of several powerful states With the help of this book, the reader can take an excursion into the five-thousand-year history of mankind in just ten concise, capacious and witty stories. In this "chosen circle" of the great fell and the Russian Empire, which the author, following Winston Churchill, calls a complete mystery up to the present day. Why? Readers will learn in the book. Each chapter contains unexpected facts that will allow readers to better understand the culture of the country described and look at it from a new point of view. For example, few people know that in 1290 AD, the Chinese astronomer Guo Shojing calculated the earth year as 365.2425 days, that is, within 26 seconds of its current measurement.