Tyrants: The World's Worst Dictators—An Exploration of the World's Most Notorious Despots and Their Dark Regimes

by David Wallechinsky

Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea's Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam's or Kim Jong-il's level of international attention.

In this fascinating, eye-opening read, New York Times bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators -- and the governments they head -- currently in exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. Tyrants also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies.

Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, Tyrants will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present -- and pose challenging questions about America's role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future.

The Tyrant Hall of Shame

Kim Jong-il/North KoreaHu Jintao/ChinaSeyed Ali Khamenei/IranKing Abdullah/Saudi Arabia Muammar al-Qaddafi/LibyaOmar al-Bashir/SudanIslam Karimov/UzbekistanSaparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan Fidel Castro/Cuba

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, True Crime

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

David Wallechinsky is an American populist historian and television commentator, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com.

Reviews

[Amelia Fergusson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gives a tongue in cheek account of 20 of the world's most despicable dictators. The bonus chapter (Dictator no.21) happens to be George W Bush; which compared to the likes of Mugabe, Kim Jong-il and Than Shwe I found a bit unfair. However, it gives an informative but brief history of each dictator without making the reader feel overwhelmed as so many history books do.

My only fault with this book is that I felt some of the dictators could have been awarded longer chapters.

[Thea · Rating 3 out of 5]

took me so long to read that big textbook ass book 😫 but I feel accomplished now

Super super interesting read! Felt like I should be taking notes from it tbh - ik it was published in 2006 or whatever but it was kinda annoying with the info being 20 years outdated now - I wanna know how the countries have progressed - ik I could just actually google it but that’s not the point.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the list of people you should hate, like in 1984. Big Brother wants you to hate them. So be happy Mr. President kills them with his god-like powers.

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me mad - such evil people and we help them! And the Bushes were bad too! A lot of today’s problems stem from the Shrub…One sad thing is how many (8 of 20) are still in power!!!

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave a good historical account of the men and their governments that used repressive and brutal tactics to become the sole power of nations in the world.It was well researched and gave a brief account of the country;s history and how a power coup by a tyrant changed their country.In most cases that country suffered poverty and draconian laws while their leader enriched himself and his relatives and friends.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting little essays on the Worlds Worst Living Dictators, the author gives you a little background information on each of the countries history before detailing the dictators themselves. I personally wished there was more details in some of the chapters but since I paid $5.00 for it on the bargain books at Barnes and Nobles I thought it well worth the money.

[Daniel Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very informative book, and up-to-date on current events.
It is terribly dry and dull for the thrill seeker reader, but I learned alot about who's who in the world today.
I did feel this book was written backwards though. It starts with the worst, and ends with the least worse, but personally, I would have done it the other way around.
I do highly recommend it.

[Gregory Klages]

Generally speaking, the book serves as a good, though reductive overview of the tyrants in question, and the countries they lead. Although, of course, information for some of the countries has already gotten out of date, for other countries, such as Syria, for instance, it provides a handy, quick reference source to familiarize yourself with the key players, groups, and issues.

[Nick Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book avoided two stars just for not forcing me to contemplate leaping from a cliff after the last book I read on the subject of dictators. Great for a day's read, but it's always more interesting if you can find specific biographies.

[Kirk Easton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent, highly detailed portraits of some of the nastiest, craziest men alive. Unfortunately (like most books of its ilk) it's already about 20% out of date. Still, a very enlightening read.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book. I wish that I had known about the majority of these evil men from say the newspaper, rather than here.

[Seth]

I think reading about Hitler was the best to read about in this book.

[Jennifer Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a word, repetitious. Certainly contains some interesting information, despite being a bit out of date(some of these people are no longer living, as advertised in the title). Just kind of blah.