'The one book you absolutely need to read in order to understand current politics' ? Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.

'Immensely readable, mordantly ironic and unsparing' ? Michael Ingnatieff

'Da Empoli issues a warning from history, that the Borgia poisoners are back as tech bros. Brilliant, acidly witty, terrifying'? John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin

HOW DO YOU DEFEND DEMOCRACY WHEN THE RULES HAVE CHANGED?

Presidents turning into monarchs. Tech tycoons and autocrats intent on global regime change. Armies of cyber trolls.

The old order is at an end. The Hour of the Predator has come.

Former political advisor Giuliano da Empoli takes us on an insider's journey through this new reality, from the Glass Palace of the UN to the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, from top secret meetings to violent power struggles. We encounter dictators and tyrants, strongmen and AI billionaires- geopolitical predators, and the flailing leaders who desperately try to appease them.

PRAISE FOR THE HOUR OF THE PREDATOR

'In a masterful, evocative narrative, he captures the worst aspects of the conquest led by men like Donald Trump and Sam Altman' ? L'Express

'Da Empoli is the chronicler of our troubled times [and] weaves a narrative as compelling as a novel or a Greek tragedy'?Le Monde

'Details with a grim lucidity the many ills afflicting our new world' ? Nouvel Obs

'A dark and dazzling book that lays bare the 'predators' of our age' ? La Tribune

PRAISE FOR THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN

'A great book, casting light on the creatures that crawl and slither behind the Kremlin's walls, on the mineral hardness of Putin, on the chaos engine that is his way of hurting us. Read this book and you will understand the Russian mind-fuck. Read it' ? John Sweeney

'A captivating novel that sails close, perhaps too close, to reality' ? Financial Times, Books of the Year

'His novel has become a guide - devoured by many western politicians - to the mindset of the Kremlin ? Simon Kuper, Lunch with the FT, Financial Times

'You need to be credible, to get into a character's head and present their point of view... But it has to be entertaining, and it has to be convincing. His book succeeds on both measures ? Peter Conradi, Sunday Times

'I doubt I have anywhere seen a cleverer portrayal of the Russian view of power, politics and the world, or a better explanation of how the colourless, secret police bureaucrat Putin swelled into the monstrous, fascinating thing he has become... Take this magical mystery tour of the Kremlin and see if it does not make you think. And what pleasure is greater than that? ? Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail

'A chilling perspective on Putin's Russia... I am a dyed-in-the-wool Russophile, so this novel is right in my sweet spot. It called to mind Emmanuel Carrère's Limonov, the nonfiction of Peter Pomerantsev, the political thrillers of Robert Harris, the documentary films of Adam Curtis, and the cold-hearted logic of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Grand Inquisitor. I loved Baranov's company, his pitch-black cynicism, his self-awareness and his sharp political analysis' ? Marcel Theroux, Guardian

"The one book you absolutely need to read in order to understand current politics."
—Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.

"Describes both the wolves who run governments and those who run tech companies."
—David Brooks, The New York Times

"An impassioned, dazzling slim volume about the state of the world.... This is a sharply written and provocative book, filled with witty asides and gallows humour."
—Financial Times

"Da Empoli issues a warning from history, that the Borgia poisoners are back as tech bros. Brilliant, acidly witty, terrifying."
—John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin

"Immensely readable, mordantly ironic and unsparing."
—Michael Ignatieff

"An Italian-Swiss writer spent years in the corridors of power observing what he sees as the emergence of a new cadre of strongmen in politics and technology, who feed off each other and share a love of disruption. He skewers them with sardonic humour."
—Economist, Best Books of 2025

"There is plenty that is irresistible about The Hour of the Predator. Mr da Empoli’s experiences at the United Nations in New York, the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh and on stage with Mr Altman provide vignettes of the Borgian power grab that he relates with exquisite detachment.... Read Mr da Empoli’s book, if only to understand how fundamentally the balance of power in the world may be changing."
—Economist

"A stylish and coolly sceptical study of power politics in an age of disorder... Apocalyptic in tone (there is the obligatory section on Machiavelli), it is also smartly observed and very funny."
—New Statesman, Books of the Year 2025

"A sharply observed work of political philosophy, with the warning that, in this world, the big ones eat the little ones."
—Kirkus

'A series of vignettes and meditations on the upending of the international order... A gorgeous though alarming piece of writing."
—Sunday Times, Current Affairs Book of the Year

"As Trump’s American critics and admirers alike struggle to understand him in terms of 20th-century right-wing traditions or Jacksonian strands in American history, da Empoli offers a useful alternative."
—Semafor

"Machiavelli's The Prince for our times."
—The Spectator

"Essential reading for Europe's political elite."
—Politico

"The short and terrifying true story of the beastly forces dominating our time, where vulgar strongmen, ferocious autocrats, transhuman technologists, and libertarian tyrants dressed in Star Trek fashion are redefining the international order."
—Air Mail

"The Hour of the Predator may be little, but it is fierce... While others have written of tech’s slow boiling of democracy’s frog, Da Empoli’s take is fresh, personal, and as bracing as it is bleak."
—The Irish Times

"As must-read as any book can be this year."
—Big Issue

"Cultured and perceptive."
—Irish Independent

"Shows you the rotting bones of the liberal order and the silhouettes of the predators that have learned to live through it."
—David Patrikarakos, Unherd

Giuliano da Empoli is an Italian and Swiss writer and political scientist living in France. He was once a senior advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. His debut novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin, sold more than half a million copies in France, where it also won the Grand Prix du Roman and was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize. It went on to become an international bestseller, being translated into thirty-five languages across the world. A film version, starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin, is forthcoming. The Hour of the Predator is currently France's best-selling non-fiction title, and translation rights have been sold in 17 languages so far. Sam Taylor is a translator, novelist and journalist. He is the author of five novels, including The Two Loves of Sophie Strom, and the award-winning translator of more than 70 books from French, including Laurent Binet's HHhH, Leïla Slimani's Lullaby, and Hubert Mingarelli's A Meal in Winter.