本书由作者在中央电视台"百家讲坛"的讲稿加工而成，作者以生动的语言讲述了慈禧非同一般的人生，从人性的角度深入体察了慈禧曲折的心态，阅读此书，可以对慈禧的一生及她所处的政治情势有详细的了解。This book was made up from the author's lecture notes presented in the "Lecture Room", a programme from CCTV, where the author told about the extraordinary life of Empress Dowager Cixi with vivid language, deeply experienced and observed the tortuous mind of Empress Dowager Cixi from the point of view of humanity, by reading this book, you can have a specific understanding on the whole life of Empress Dowager Cixi and the political situation where she was in.