Novel review by Chris: Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

One of the most defining periods in the Star Wars timeline is the era of the Galactic Empire. But how did it come into being? What did it look like when it was in power? And what happened to overthrow it? In an entertaining historical look at the Empire, Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Dr. Chris Kempshall offers a lot of new information, dimensions and entertainment from this much-researched era. Read my review below!

What do you do in the wake of a galaxy-shattering event like the Battle of Exegol, the rebirth and re-death of Emperor Palpatine, and the ultimate defeat of the First/Last Order? In Beaumont Kim’s case, you write a history book about the rise and fall of the Empire, written with the knowledge of a historian studying the history of the galaxy. Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, is supposedly a historical document written as an in-universe document, a warning to future generations about the cyclical nature of violence, fascism and war. In real life, the author, Dr. Chris Kempshall, is an Associate Tutor at the University of Sussex and Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent, UK, specialising in Allied Relations on the Western Front and Modern Representations of the War (from his website). This gives him a unique insight into the history of the galaxy and he writes this book as if he were studying real empires.

The fact that a real historian is writing this book makes me realize its overall success. Not being a historian myself, I don’t think I could have written a nearly 400 page document detailing the history of the Empire. There are so many dimensions to this book that I, as a layperson, could never summarize. Whole chapters describe the Imperial societies that make up the Empire, the effects of mass prejudice and racism, and provide insight into the Imperial economy. With a historian’s eye, Dr. Kempshall brings out dimensions in stories that I wouldn’t have noticed on my own. Additionally, he puts a lot of stories in a really interesting light. Two examples. First, at one point he talks about the Battle of Atollon purely from a military perspective, noting in military terms how the attack failed (even without the involvement of the Bendu). Second, he lays out why the Battle of Hoth is not only one of the Rebellion’s greatest losses, but possibly one of the Empire’s greatest. This book is a really interesting exercise in seeing things you are so familiar with in a completely new light.

Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire is also quite engaging and easy to read. The material is laid out in a way that makes sense to me as a layperson, but it also changes what I think is a sensible order. For example, you won’t read directly about the Death Star for much longer than you might think. However, this makes the inclusion of the Death Star a few pages later much more interesting. You really understand more about how the Death Star functioned within the Empire itself than how it was created. Imagine learning about the Death Star after learning about Tarkin and how he rose through the ranks and what leading the Stardust project would entail. Then you can understand a little better what this book is trying to do. Written as a sequel to Exegol, this is rise and fall contains really interesting insights into the sequel era (I would have liked more of that, but that is not the fault of this book). I would say rise and fall does much of the heavy lifting we need at this time and follows some other incredibly resilient books like Shadow of the Sith And The visual dictionary of the last Jedi.

Write rise and fall as an in-universe history book also offers a lot of interesting angles, most of which wouldn’t exist if it had been written as a regular textbook. For one thing, the book is much more engaging when read as a Resistance-written response to the last fifty years of fascism after the fall of the New Republic. Not only does this help frame events very specifically—and I’d be curious to see the history of the Republic written from the perspective of the Final Order, but also how it’s told and in what order. Second, it creates a unique way of avoiding some of the problems that arise when a reference book is written while Star Wars is still being created. This is one of my personal quirks: when you publish a book, keep in mind what major publications are coming out around the same time. Delilah Dawson’s The Skywalker Saga was a delightful children’s book about episodes I-VIII and Ultimate Star Wars contained everything you needed to know about war of stars – both appeared the previous summer The Rise of Skywalker. The Incredible Timelines Book suffers without the inclusion of the adjacent editions of Obi Wan Kenobi And Andor. rise and fall finds a clever workaround. What happens right after Jakku? As readers, we don’t really know – and in this case, neither does Kim. That means he can’t put it in the book. It’s much less jarring to realize that the characters have just as many gaps in their knowledge as we do, and it makes those missing pieces seem so much less significant. That’s brilliant, in my opinion. At the time of this review, I had a lot of things in mind that I wanted to see the book address (Thrawn after Jakku was a big one). Almost every case I was thinking about was answered, and most were answered quite satisfactorily. I believe now, and we’ll see if this works out, rise and fall will still be quite useful twenty years from now, even without some future movies and revelations.

As most readers have probably figured out, I am a pretty big fan of Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. If you are a fan of reference books, this will be a valuable and entertaining addition to your collection. If you are a history buff, this is a book you should definitely pick up. And for those who might just want to read something more like a novel while we wait for Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss and the upcoming The High Republic books, this is an exciting but entertaining way to pass the time.

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