How to Be a Dictator

By Frank Dikötter,

Book cover of How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century

Book description

'Brilliant' NEW STATESMAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 'Enlightening and a good read' SPECTATOR 'Moving and perceptive' NEW STATESMAN Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Ceausescu, Mengistu of Ethiopia and Duvalier of Haiti. No dictator can rule through fear and violence alone. Naked power can be grabbed and held temporarily,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked How to Be a Dictator as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Don’t be fooled by the title: this is no how-to guide for budding sociopaths who want to force the masses to bend to their every whim. Rather, it is a study of eight dictators with a special emphasis on how each one used his personality cult “to claw his way to power and get rid of his rivals”. Dikotter fits an impressive amount of information into this concise book and does a great job of comparing and contrasting such tyrants as Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Mussolini. But what I especially appreciate are the “deep cuts” — Dikotter includes chapters…

From Daniel's list on dictators.

Want books like How to Be a Dictator?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 45 books like How to Be a Dictator.

Browse books like How to Be a Dictator

Book cover of Stalin: A Biography
Book cover of The Miracles of Chairman Mao
Book cover of The Body Of Il Duce: Mussolini's Corpse And The Fortunes Of Italy

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,176

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in dictators, dictatorships, and Mao Zedong?

Dictators 13 books
Dictatorships 12 books
Mao Zedong 20 books