Book excerpt: Dr. Steven Attewell has done it again.After producing the most definitive reading companion to George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones in Race for the Iron Throne: Political and Historical Analysis of A Game of Thrones, he's returned, tackling a set of highly specific - and thoroughly enlightening - topics that unravel the political, social, and historical tapestry of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and beyond.Join him as he traces the origin and development of the office of the Hand of the King, as well as evaluate its most prominent holders; explores just what type of monarchy the Iron Throne represents, and how it is likely to evolve at the end of A Song of Ice and Fire; provides the only comprehensive survey of the various city-states of Essos around; and attempts to reconstruct the year-by-year developments of the five Blackfyre Rebellions as only a trained historian can.Additionally, exclusive to this book release are two bonus essays that thoroughly unpack what Martin's The World of Ice and Fire has to offer on these topics, even going so far as to point out where the encyclopedia likely is in error and where real-world history paints a more consistent or engaging scenario.Once completed, Hands, Kings, & City-States: Analyzing a World of Ice and Fire will unlock additional levels of insight, complexity, and appreciation for George Martin's already-engrossing world that you never thought possible. About the author Steven Attewell is the author of Race for the Iron Throne, a blog that examines the history and politics of the Song of Ice and Fire series and HBO's Game of Thrones. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied the history of public policy and was a political and union activist. In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money podcast, writes about public policy at the Realignment Project, and is a co-author of the Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring anthology book.