The Most Evil Dictators in History
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While not all dictators can be termed "evil", the very nature of their regimes suggests inherent corruption. As Lord Acton's oft-quoted phrase puts it: "All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
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A dictator imposes his will on the masses, his word is law and he can contemplate no opposition to his plans or ambitions. To do so would be to let power slip from his grasp and dictators throughout the ages have proven that man will go to any lengths to maintain his dominance over his fellow man.
The fifteen dictators profiled in this book span the centuries from Herod the Great in 74BC to Shaka Zulu in the eighteenth century and Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe in modern times. The specter of the tyrannical dictator is as old as history, yet even today such men can, and do, bludgeon their way to power.
Subjecting a nation to dictatorship requires an uncompromising, ruthless nature and there has never been any shortage of candidates willing to take up the challenge of ruling by force. In doing so, those featured in these pages have committed some of the most infamous atrocities ever witnessed.
In cataloguing their crimes, The Most Evil Dictators In Historyprovides an insight into the lives and motivations of these men, as well as a fascinating study of the corrupting effects of "absolute power".
Shelley Kleinis a freelance editor, compiler and writer. Her previous works include The Wicked Wit of Charles Dickensand Stufflebeem, Brockway and Sturt: The Origins of Our Surnames(both 2002) and The Most Evil Women in History(2003).
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