Hour of the Predator by Giuliano da Empoli

Giuliano Da Empoli’s The Hour of the Predator is a timely and incisive examination of the shifting power dynamics in global politics, where traditional governments find themselves increasingly outmatched by technology tycoons and autocratic strongmen: geopolitical predators who shape the world through brute force, deception, and disruption.

Drawing on his experience as a political advisor to a former Italian Prime Minister, Da Empoli takes the reader on an eye-opening journey around the international political circuit-from New York to Riyadh, and from the United Nations to Mohammed bin Salman’s Ritz-Carlton- and through the looking glass to a world of ruthless power struggles, where the tech lords already seem to inhabit another world and AI is already out of control.

Blending the author’s personal insight with startling historical comparisons to the days of Machiavelli and the Spanish conquest of Mexico, The Hour of the Predator describes the growing influence of tech billionaires, the rise of autocratic regimes and the erosion of traditional diplomacy, to paint a chilling picture of a disintegrating world order.

A chilling assessment of international politics in our time, from the bestselling author of The Wizard of the Kremlin

About the Author: 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 four novels and the award-winning translator of more than 60 books from French, including Laurent Binet’s HHhH, Leila Slimani’s Lullaby, and Hubert Mingarelli’s A Meal in Winter.

09 Oct 2025
 

The Hour of the Predator: Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World by Giuliano da Empoli ISBN 9781805680161