The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
(Iain Dale (ed.), Hodder & Stoughton, £30)
I couldn’t help but think, with a shudder, what some of these dictators might have achieved had the technology at their disposal been more advanced. This book will prove a great resource for history teachers and students of psychology.
Click the image to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
In some respects one could view this book as a single warning repeated 64 times. In as many chapters, it covers a number of familiar names – including Attila the Hun, Ho Chi Minh and, of course, Hitler – in chronological order, from ancient times to the present day.
A fascinating opening chapter sets the scene by discussing the psychology of dictators and the traits they can often share. Despite each of the following chapters being penned by a different author, the book hangs together remarkably well, serving up some compelling insights into the machinations of dictators through the ages, making it a potentially useful reference for political studies and history.
There might be a surprising omission or two – such as Trujillo and Vlad the Impaler – but 64 is surely enough to be getting on with...
This book was first reviewed in Teach Secondary magazine.