Strongmen

A gripping and illuminating picture of how strongmen have deployed violence, seduction, and corruption' Daniel Ziblatt, coauthor of How Democracies Die

'A timely analysis of how a certain kind of charisma delivers political disaster' Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny


Ours is the age of the strongman. Countries from Russia to India, Turkey to America are ruled by men who combine populist appeal with authoritarian policy. They have reshaped their countries around them, creating cults of personality which earn the loyalty of millions. And they do so by drawing on a playbook of behaviour established by figures such as Benito Mussolini, Muammar Gaddafi and Adolf Hitler. So why despite the evidence of history do strongmen still hold such appeal for us?