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How to be a dictator : the cult of personality in the twentieth century / Frank Dikötter.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: London : Bloomsbury, 2019.Description: 304 pages ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9781408891612 (pbk.) :
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 321.90904 23
LOC classification:
  • JC495
Summary: 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, but it never suffices in the long term. A tyrant who can compel his own people to acclaim him will last longer. The paradox of the modern dictator is that he must create the illusion of popular support. Throughout the twentieth century, hundreds of millions of people were condemned to enthusiasm, obliged to hail their leaders even as they were herded down the road to serfdom. Frank Dikötter returns to eight of the most chillingly effective personality cults of the twentieth century.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
Non Fiction The Harden Library, King's Hospital Main 321.9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Checked out 05/04/2024 R16504P0499

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, but it never suffices in the long term. A tyrant who can compel his own people to acclaim him will last longer. The paradox of the modern dictator is that he must create the illusion of popular support. Throughout the twentieth century, hundreds of millions of people were condemned to enthusiasm, obliged to hail their leaders even as they were herded down the road to serfdom. Frank Dikötter returns to eight of the most chillingly effective personality cults of the twentieth century.

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