Chris Kempshall

A history of the dark times

"So this is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause."
-Senator Padmé Amidala

When Palpatine declared the birth of his new Empire, he expected it would stand for millennia. Instead, it lasted only 24 years. This is the story of how a tyrannical regime rose from the ashes of democracy, ruled the galaxy with an iron fist, and then collapsed into dust.

It is a story of war and heroes, of the power of propaganda and the dangers of complacency. But most of all, it is a story of normal people trying to live their lives in the face of a brutal dictatorship.

From the ruthlessness of Darth Vader's campaigns to the horrors of the Tarkin Initiative, this book offers fresh new insights into the dark entity at the core of Star Wars.

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

This book provides the first detailed and comprehensive examination of all the materials making up the Star Wars franchise relating to the portrayal and representation of real-world history and politics. Drawing on a variety of sources, including films, published interviews with directors and actors, novels, comics, and computer games, this volume explores the ways in which historical and contemporary events have been repurposed within Star Wars. It focuses on key themes such as fascism and the Galactic Empire, the failures of democracy, the portrayal of warfare, the morality of the Jedi, and the representations of sex, gender, and race. Through these themes, this study highlights the impacts of the fall of the Soviet Union, the War on Terror, and the failures of the United Nations upon the ‘galaxy far, far away’. By analysing and understanding these events and their portrayal within Star Wars, it shows how the most popular media franchise in existence aims to speak about wider contemporary events and issues. The History and Politics of Star Wars is useful for upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars of a variety of disciplines such as transmedia studies, science fiction, cultural studies, and world history and politics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Death Stars and Democracy

The History and Politics of Star Wars

Jason Fry

Cole Horton

Amy Ratcliffe

Explore the "Wars" in Star Wars as never before! Enter a galaxy ravaged by conflict and discover the complete story of the epic struggles that define the Star Wars movies. This ambitious book presents major galactic conflicts from an in-world "historical" perspective: each battle is depicted with captivating imagery, explored with newly commissioned maps, and explained through a detailed analysis of tactics, famous commanders, legendary warriors, key moments, and its impact on wider galactic history. This is the perfect book for any Star Wars fan, budding military historian, or would-be rebel hero! (c) AND TM 2021 LUCASFILM LTD.

Star Wars Battles That Changed the Galaxy

Explore the "Wars" in Star Wars as never before! Enter a galaxy ravaged by conflict and discover the complete story of the epic struggles that define the Star Wars movies. This ambitious ebook presents major galactic conflicts from an in-world "historical" perspective: each battle is depicted with captivating imagery, explored with newly commissioned maps, and explained through detailed analysis of tactics, famous commanders, legendary warriors, key moments, and its impact on wider galactic history. This is the perfect ebook for any Star Wars fan, budding military historian, or would-be rebel hero! © AND TM 2021 LUCASFILM LTD.

Chris Kempshall

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