Empire of the Moghul - Ruler of the World by Alex Rutherford

Akbar, the third great ruler of the glorious Moghul dynasty, is everything an emperor should be. He commands two - thirds of the Indian subcontinent and a hundred million subjects. His reign begins bloodily in 1556 and he soon proves himself to be brave, ruthless and supremely confident.

However, within the astonishing splendour of the Moghul dynastylies a fatal flaw. Any of the emperor's sons can inherit so Moghul princes become as bloodthirsty and secretive as their fathers. And as Akbar's eldest son, Salim, reaches manhood, this will surely spell trouble....

Ruler of the World is the third book in the gripping and brilliant Empire of the Moghul series; an epic tale of great wars and great sacrifises - and of an unparralleled dynasty that carries within it the unruly seeds of its own destruction.

This book was just great. In our history text books, we come to know only about the outer points of the rulers' life. How that person had his administration, what changes did he put on his followers, what were the taxes removed or added, ect., In this book you come to know about these people's personal life, through a fictious way. Suppose, Salim and Khusrau's rivalry was not highlited in our chapter. But, in this book, I came to know that Khusrau and Salim were fighting to be Akbar's successors. Well, we know that Jahangir i.e Salim got to be the King, so that ultimately means that Khusrau loses and rebels against his father, as we all know. We didnt know that, at first, Khusrau was very close to his father and broke away from him only when his father was starting a rebillion against his father. I dont know how many people ot there know that Abul Fazl was mudered, but I didnt know, and was shocked when I came to know.

 Like this, the book keeps on unwinding the personal life of two rulers and one rebel. Its a good read and I am sure anyone who reads it will enjoy it.

All in all, this was a good book. At first I was dissapointed, when I came to know that Empire of the Moghul is a series and this is the third book in the series, but, when I read it, I could read it as if this was the first book in the series! The first book is Raiders of the North, which is about Timur and Babur, and the second book is Brothers at War, which is about Humayun and the early life of Akbar, stopping just before the First Battle of Panipat.