Chua draws on deeply researched case studies and her personal experiences as the daughter of immigrants in this historical examination of hyperpowers. The empires of Persia, Rome, Tang China, the Mongols, the Dutch, the British, and the United States each rose to power, Chua argues, because each was relatively pluralistic and tolerant during its rise to power. But, according to Day of Empire, while multiculturalism led to power, it also sowed the seeds of decline by way of conflict, hatred, and violence. Chua describes her book as part tribute to America’s tolerance, part examination of colossal power and ethnic “purity” and pluralism, and part warning. “Tolerance,” she writes in the book’s preface, “has always been the true secret to America’s success, and today, more than ever before, we are in danger of losing our way.”