The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History

Were the signs that Putin is a ruthless dictator there all along? How should we deal with President Xi of China? Given the world seems to be moving more and more in favour of authoritarian rule, this is the right moment to seek warnings, and lessons, from history.

The Dictators includes elected and unelected dictators, wartime and peacetime dictators, those driven by ideology and those with a reputation for sheer brutality. How did these tyrants, autocrats and despots seize power and how did...