The empire and the five kings: America's abdication and the fate of the world

Prologue: On dove's feet, the Kurds

Part One: The latest news from the empire. Hegel's ghost ; How the word came to America ; Lest I forget you, Jerusalem, Aeneas, Virgil ; Jeremy Bentham and the web ; Thus spake the empire of the eye and of nothingness

Part Two: Five kingdoms on the offensive. The earth shook in Kurdistan ; Herodotus's trap ; Dante, Abraham, and the War of the Five Kings ; The brown wave ; The specters' ball

Epilogue: Where does the sea go at ebb tide?