Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate

A 2026 Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick

From clay tablets to the algorithmic state, a groundbreaking new lens on human history arguing that information has always been the seed of power. Perfect for readers of Nexus and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

Historians have pointed to guns, germs, steel, religion, agriculture, and the female body as the engines of human history. But what do they all have in common?

Every human approach to power has involved collecting data—from tracking where and how long animals live to sharpen the hunt, to classifying our fellow humans in order to stratify, isolate, and subjugate them. Recording and mastering data has always been the foundation of rule—and we are living through it now, too.

In Data Empire, Roopika Risam uncovers the hidden history of data as a force that has shaped civilizations. From ancient cave markings and knotted strings to colonial censuses and modern digital surveillance, Risam shows how data has always been a means of control. Empire may have made use of weapons or ships, but it was built on information.

Both a sweeping history and a sharp critique, Data Empire is a call to recognize the power data has always held, and to imagine what resistance looks like in an age defined by it. The story of empire is the story of data—and knowing its past is the first step to breaking its grip on the future.