The Most Evil Dictators in History.

by Shelley Klein

Evil dictators throughout history and who they were. Book

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760750394
• ISBN13: 9780760750391
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

On time for our assessment task

We were unable to purchase this book in Australia. It arrived so quickly we were able to use it for an ongoing ideology asssignment. Many thanks.

This one is just plain fun reading

There is not going to be a tremendous research work, but so what! The book is hard to put down because it flows well. The reader will learn many things from this book, but it has much that is fairly popularly known. Again, so what? Everybody will pick up at least several new facts about each listed thug, and the beauty of this anthology is that it is put together smoothly enough for a wide range of reader. We have to sympathize with the author because of the huge number of bad guys to choose from through history. Everyone will say they would have rather had so-and-so named in the book rather than a dictator that made the cut, and the poor writer had to make an attempt to dig up material for several thousand years. It is also a cinch that there were many, many other personages worthy of being condemned, but little documentation to back the claims. What the heck - they're dead anyway. Any author worth her salt is going to select, for the most part, subjects who are fairly current, because these will be the most notorious. Even the current crop are mostly deceased. Wup - add one more: [...] is gone. This is one you can take to the beach for some medium-strength nonfiction reading. And it is very, very interesting. Impress your friends with the range of your reading choices!

An excellent entry point for history enthusiasts

I am an avid reader and writer. As a writer I find it essential to study history and current events. I have recently finished the book, The Most Evil Dictators in History. I found this book excellent. True, there is much more written about each of the 15 evil dictators featured in this book, but this book acts as a perfect place to wet your appetite and launch into studies on historical figures covered by its essays. The Most Evil Dictators is a well-researched book that features 15 of the most despicable dictators in history, from Herod the Great to Saddam Hussain. The book includes notes and bibliography to help you branch out and read more about the despots it covers. It is an excellent starting point for any history enthusiast. -Craig Nybo, author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System

very interesting

I'm a reborn history buff and my current focus is dictatorship in many countries. It is not so good to hear that several countries around the world today are still living in it (mostly in Africa, Asia). But it's always good to learn from other country's mistakes. That's probably what this book is for. I have not read about the first few people. I also have to argue about the author's opinion about Stalin being the most influential. I must say that I think Hitler and Genghis Khan would have to outrank him for that. For one thing, Khan did some good things and some bad things; in fact, many people blame the current aridity in the Middle East on him. But Hitler completely changed the course of the 20th century, from everything like the Cold War and the collapse of real Communism. I also read more about Robert Mugabe (leader of Zimbabwe). I was surprised the author did not write about what would happen next if something happened to Mugabe. I would have to say some the people of Zimbabwe would gang up on his regime like they should and bring peace to that troubled African nation. After all, why would they trust a man with a Hitler mustache? This also makes people wonder why the Chinese would give in to Mao (whose actions killed the most people in the 20th century) and why they still do. But the author did a good job analyzing these people.

Evil will always be around, it just wear different names

A very good overview on various dictators like Herod The Great, Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Pot Pol and even current dictators. It was interesting to realize that whether these were fascist countries (like Genghis Khan or Hitler) that they were really no different than communist/religious dictator countries. They all violate human rights, free speech, and you and your belonging are property of the state.