BOOK REVIEW: "Lords of the Sith" by Paul Kemp

Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine flex their Force muscles in Paul Kemp's Lords of the Sith, but the real stars of this book are Cham Syndulla and his rebellion on Ryloth. According to the publisher's summary:

On Ryloth, a planet crucial to the growing Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as “spice,” an aggressive resistance movement has arisen, led by Cham Syndulla, an idealistic freedom fighter, and Isval, a vengeful former slave. But Emperor Palpatine means to control the embattled world and its precious resources—by political power or firepower—and he will be neither intimidated nor denied. Accompanied by his merciless disciple, Darth Vader, he sets out on a rare personal mission to ensure his will is done.

The Sith throughout history

I was recently rereading portions of Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, the classic account of the trial of Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann. One of the tragedies of the book - and indeed, all of Nazi Germany - is how such apparently civilized men could engage in such evil. While reading, I noticed a quote that should sound familiar to Star Wars fans:

"[I, Eichmann,] may have been wrong all down the line, but one thing is beyond dispute: the man [Hitler] was able to work his way up from lance corporal in the German Army to Führer of a people of almost eighty million. . . . His success alone proved to me that I should subordinate myself to this man."