Ruler of the World: Empire of the Moghul Hardcover – July 3, 2012

The 1st half of this book was slow, Akbar came, he saw, he put me to sleep. Everything it seemed came easy to him and man does that make for boring content. In stories you have those you root for, you hope to always win the battle, sniff out the conspiracy, make the correct laws and appoint the most able people. Yah, he did all that and I put down the book.Only when it switched to his eldest son did the book take off like a rocket. Now we were viewing Akbar actions from afar, they looked very different. Salim was the perfect solution to the almost perfect Akbar, I finished the rest of the book in half a day because it was so intriguing.........Don't get bogged down, it gets much better and now I can't wait for the next book!

I was really interested in reading about Akbar and his reign, so I had bought this book. Found the book to be interesting and the pace of the book kept me sufficiently engaged. The book is based on historical facts which can be found out easily on wikipedia and so would not claim this book to be well researched. Akbar's rule for over 50 years and its not easy to capture all facets of his life, his thoughts, his wars and his idealogy in a book. The author has attempted to do this and has been fairly successful. However instead of focusing so much on Abu Fazal, he could have added a chapter on "navratnas" or the nine jewels of Akbar's court. Without the mention of Birbal and Tansen, any fictional story of Akbar is incomplete. In my mind the authors should have added the war with Rana Pratap of Mewar. That is one crucial war which is missing. And then referring to the armies of Gujrat, Bengal and Kashmir as Gujratis, Bengalis and Kashmiris, shows that the author lacks historical knowledge. Overall a decent book on Akbar's reign.

Excellent historical fiction od one of the lesser-known ruling dynasties. (Well, lesser-known to those of us in the US and UK anyway) Well-done historically based series of the Moghul emperors. I have read all 5 and thoroughly enjoyed them.

I am an absolute history reader but sometimes the history books can be dry and long winded. This keeps it feeling real and like your a bystander in the telling. I purchased the whole series and was not disappointed. The complex and simple ideologies of war and conquer.

Alex Rutherford, the couple, have been doing a splendid job, weaving fiction with fact of the Moghul era in India. This is of particular interest to those of us living in India - we got the facts from dry history books, now we can look at that time with renewed interest. I am now on the 4th book in the series The Tainted Throne, and am enjoying every bit of it (including the gory scenes). Way to go Alex Rutherford!

Historically correct & informative. Formulaic, not very exciting or intriguing as a novel. There as many more interesting novels in this genre.

Kept me engaged throughout

I am reading all the books in this series. It is really expanding my knowledge of eastern history all the while including the drama and intrigue that a dry textbook excludes.

I found this very engrossing, easily as good as the first two in the series, in fact I enjoyed it more because Akbar seems to have had much more success and this book describes the expansion of the empire. Will relish the next book. In fact, I think I might well venture to Asia one day purely to explore some of the places mentioned in this series.

I have read all books in the Empire of the Moghul series and can say iv not been disappointed. every time I read these books I become encapsulated in the story, I get a sense of the excitement and thrill of the Moghul dynasty and its overwhelming thirst for expansion by any means.Alex Rutherford I commend you on your writing in this series and thank you for my pleasure in reading them.

It is a good series of books, although over descriptive in parts. However, I wasn't impressed with the interpretation of the Anarkali story which is so iconic in India. Could have been better, but still engaging and worth reading for those new to the subject of the Mughals.

Excellent

loved it