Qin Shi Huang: The Emperor Who Remade China

100 Lives That Shaped the World · Episode 2

• Historical Biographies
• 42 min
• Ages 12–99
• 10 chapters

About this audiobook

A source-aware biography of China's First Emperor, examining conquest, centralization, standardization, forced labor, the terracotta army, and the dynasty's rapid collapse.

Why it's worth a listen

It shows how durable institutions can emerge from coercive rule, while treating state power, archaeological evidence, and human cost together.

A question to keep

How did Qin Shi Huang build a lasting imperial system when his own dynasty survived him by only a few years?

Based on the book by Emma's Library, published by Emma's Library

Chapters

1. The Emperor Who Could Not Stop Moving
2. Seven States and a Century of War
3. A Young King in a Dangerous Court
4. Conquest, One State at a Time
5. Turning Conquest into Government
6. Walls, Roads, and the Cost of Command
7. Books, Critics, and the Limits of Evidence
8. An Army Beneath the Earth
9. Succession and a Dynasty's Collapse
10. The System That Outlived Its Founder