Vol. 1
English Turn: Napoleon Invades Louisiana
$20.00 USDPaperback
New Orleans, 1802. A voodoo priestess, a French revolutionary, and Napoleon collide in a struggle for North America.
Buy on AmazonVolney Publishing · est. memory of empires
The Secret History That Inspired Empires and Epics
Exploring the enduring legacy of Constantin-François Volney and the modern novels born from his philosophy — by Thomas Christian Williams.
The Novels
Two centuries, two empires, two stories.
Premium historical fiction by Thomas Christian Williams — available now on Amazon.
Vol. 2
Kash Kachu (White House)
$20.00 USDPaperback
The American Southwest, a thousand years ago. Two brothers battle for control of a holy city as drought and disbelief tear civilization apart.
Buy on AmazonVolney's Legacy
Constantin-François Volney
1757 — 1820 · Philosopher, Traveler, Statesman
His Ruins of Empires became one of the most quietly influential books of the long 19th century — before slipping into near-total obscurity by the 1920s.
- 1791
- First published
- 130+
- Years of influence
- 20+
- Thinkers inspired
01
Why Empires Rise — and Fall
A sweeping meditation on the patterns that lift civilizations to greatness, and the same patterns that hollow them out.
02
A Solution to Religious Conflict
Rather than dismiss faith, Volney imagined a great assembly of all peoples where competing theologies could coexist.
03
An Influence on the Imagination
Read by Washington and Lincoln, embraced by abolitionists, and a direct spark for the Romantic age.
The Core Revelation
For all the decades of the book's popularity, no one ever knew that the most popular English edition had been secretly and anonymously translated by Thomas Jefferson.
A two-century-old literary secret hiding in plain sight — uncovered, documented, and told in full for the first time.
Minds He Shaped
George WashingtonAbraham LincolnLord ByronMary ShelleyWilliam BlakeHonoré de BalzacStendhalWalt WhitmanFrederick Douglass
The Lens
Through the Lens of the Ruins
Discussing modern-day events seen through the lens of Volney's Ruins of Empires.
Essay № 01March 2026
When Republics Forget Their Ruins
Volney walked through Palmyra and saw the silent stones of a vanished empire. Two centuries later, the same warning hangs over modern democracies.
Read essayEssay № 02February 2026
Jefferson's Hidden Library
Why did the third president of the United States anonymously translate a French philosopher's meditation on the fall of empires? The answer reshapes American history.
Read essayEssay № 03January 2026
AI, Empire, and the New Babel
From Babylon to Silicon Valley, the dream of a single universal language has always preceded the fracture. Volney saw it coming.
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