The first hegemon : the great Persian empire from Cyrus to Alexander -- Tolerance in Rome's high empire : gladiators, togas, and imperial "glue" -- China's golden age : the mixed-blooded Tang dynasty -- The great Mongol empire : cosmopolitan barbarians -- The "purification" of medieval Spain : inquisition, expulsion, and the price of intolerance -- The Dutch world empire : diamonds, damask, and every "mongrel sect in Christendom" -- Tolerance and intolerance in the East : the Ottoman, Ming, and Mughal empires -- The British empire : "rebel buggers" and the "white man's burden" -- The American hyperpower : tolerance and the microchip -- The rise and fall of the Axis Powers : Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan -- The challengers : China, the European Union, and India in the twenty-first century -- The day of empire : lessons of history