Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators

by Jay Nordlinger

What’s it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? A monster on the Stalin level? What’s it like to bear a name synonymous with oppression, terror, and evil?

Jay Nordlinger set out to answer that question, and does so in this book. He surveys 20 dictators in all. They are the worst of the Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and so on. The book is not about them, really, though of course they figure in it. It’s about their children.

Some of them are absolute loyalists. They admire, revere, or worship their father. Some of them actually succeed their father as dictator—as in North Korea, Syria, and Haiti. Some of them have doubts. A couple of them become full-blown dissenters, even defectors. A few of the daughters have the experience of having their husband killed by their father. Most of these children are rocked by war, prison, exile, or other upheaval.

Obviously, the children have things in common. But they are also individuals, making of life what they can. The main thing they have in common is They have been dealt a very, very unusual hand.

What would you do, if you were the offspring of an infamous dictator, who lords it over your country?

An early reader of this book said, “There’s an opera on every page”: a drama, a tragedy (or even a comedy). Another reader said he had read the chapter on Bokassa “with my eyes on stalks.”

Meet these characters for yourself. Marvel, shudder, and ponder.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Biography, Psychology, Historical, Sociology

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

About the author

Jay Nordlinger is a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow of the National Review Institute. He writes about a variety of subjects, including politics, foreign affairs, and the arts. He is music critic for The New Criterion . Since 2002, he has hosted a series of public interviews at the Salzburg Festival. For the National Review website, he writes a column called “Impromptus.” With Mona Charen, he hosts the Need to Know podcast, and he also hosts a podcast called Q&A . His latest book is Children of Monsters . He is also the author of Peace, They Say , a history of the Nobel Peace Prize. A native Michigander, Nordlinger lives in New York.

Reviews

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

short - 20 dictators and their families in about 300 odd pages - but entertaining and well researched; the one part I am quite familiar (the Ceausescus and their 3 children) with was remarkably well done in the allotted 15 pages - sure some nuance was lost (Nicu's reputation was a bit exaggerated, most likely by intention and Zoe's tribulations were somewhat understated), but all in all, very well done

recommended for a fast and informative read

[laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book a lot. It was a good bus book, because it was broken up well to read a little at a time. It claims to be a psychological inquiry, but I think that's a bit of a stretch. He does go into some comparisons and hypotheses about the different outcomes of the children, but there wasn't much psychological theory put up against these stories. But what stories they were! He was meticulous in documenting as much as he could about this elusive group of people and giving thorough accounting of everybody he could find through to grandchildren as well. He didn't shy away from some of the horrible things they did, nor did he fail to give them credit when they overcame or empathy when their circumstances overcame them. The dictators he chose were also very diverse, both geographically as well as politically, which I loved. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is that I did wish he had given some sort of primer or brought in somebody else to give us a little taste of the psychology behind the different themes he did tease out at the end of the book.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read and impossible to put down

[Shreyans Goenka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read! Eye-opening...thought-provoking...and stimulating. I feel compelled to discuss this book with everyone I meet!

[Shif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jay Nordlinger deals with one of the most complex questions of all time in his book, Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators. As he phrased it in the forward of his book, “I wondered what it must be like to be the son or daughter of Hoxha. To bear a name synonymous with oppression, murder, terror, and evil.” Essentially, it is a question of nature vs nurture. Why there is evil, how it continues, and why despite the upbringing and indoctrination of evil, there is still resistance (as seen with Svetlana Stalin.)
Children of Monsters is an analysis of the children of the 20 most demonic and diabolical dictators of the 20th century. On the topic of dictators, the children are often not discussed, largely because of the little that is known of some of them, but also because of the complex nature of the topic. As Nordlinger wrote in the afterward of his book, “To study the children of dictators is to spend a lot of time with unpleasantness. Dropping the understatement, I will put it another way: To write a book such as mine, you have to spend a lot of time with evil- the evil of dictators and their regimes. Sometimes, the children become part of it all. They join the military oppression.” Whatever the surrounding stigma of the children of dictators, it is definitely an interesting point of conversation in how these children were raised, the challenges they had to endure, and ultimately the decisions they made in how they chose to live their lives. Sometimes there is a message of hope, in the goodness of humanity, in how some of the children defied all odds and became defectors of the regime, standing up for all that is right and moral in the world. Other times, there is unending chaos, destruction, cruelty- an analysis of the greatest psychopaths that ever lived. Whatever the case, there seems to be a pattern of behavior among the offsprings of these tyrants.
Some of the children become supporters of the regime, as seen with Kim Jong-il in North Korea. Perhaps he has even surpassed his father in the depravity he is capable of. Not necessarily do most of the children support their totalitarian fathers to the extent that Kim Jong-il did. In fact, while most were supporters, most did not mimic the evil acts of their fathers. There does seem to be, however, some imitation between the dictatorial fathers and their sons, as seen with Vasily Stalin, who mimicked his father aggressive behavior, but Vasily never gained the respect of his father, as he was seen as a hot-headed brute prone to drinking and other compulsive behaviors. Similarly are the cases of the sons of Ceausescu and Saddam Hussain.
Another common route the children of dictators seem to go in is as vocal opposers to the dictatorship, as seen with Alina Fernandez, Fidel Castro’s daughter. Perhaps these are the ones who deal with their family in the most healthy way, not in denial or repression, but acknowledging the truth and standing against it. Unfortunately sometimes they do not withstand permanently, as seen with Saif Al-Islam, the son of Gaddafi, who led protests and vocally voiced opposition, but ultimately returned to the fold in support of his fascist father, supporting the government and the system he had previously spoken out against. This raises the question of ‘How’ and ‘Why’ after being exposed to such brutality the children choose to stand against it, to speak for democracy and equality, and yet they end up returning to their comfortable lives in their fascist homes? The case of Zoia Ceausescu is perhaps so surprising, because she had been sheltered from the brutality of her father’s regime, and when she found about it, she became an adamant criticizer of it, standing and supporting the people, leading protests, and years later she returned to the life she has scorned and criticized.
One of the questions this book raises is how someone so evil is capable of any sort of goodness. We tend to want to categorize people in either the good category or the bad category. Good people are expected to act moral and right in all turns, and bad people are supposed to only be capable of pure evil, without any shred of humanity in them. The reality, is that most people possess both good and bad inclinations, and bad people are capable of good, in the same way, that good people are capable of bad. Khomeini is said to have been an excellent husband and is told to have only disagreed with his wife once, in arguing over the value in buying their son a toy. Duvalier is supposed to have been an excellent father, always warm and compassionate towards his children, he is one of the only dictators who developed a real father-son/daughter relationship with his children. Almost humorously, Edda Mussolini writes in her diary how her father trailed her and her husband on their honeymoon because he could not bear to let his baby girl go. He only left after being forced to. Perhaps an analysis of the children of dictators has become more of a psycho evaluation of human nature, and what being human really means.
One of the most compelling cases of the children of dictators, is Idi Amin’s son, Jaffar. Jaffar is and still remains a loyal supporter of his father, and yet he dedicates his life to making reparation with the public over the crimes his father had committed. Maybe this is the most honest portrayal of a son, loyal to his father, but admitting what has been done wrong. It takes a strong man to concede and compromise, especially one who is as loyal and dedicated as Jaffar Amin is. An interesting point that this book highlights is how even though some of the children staunchly defended and supported their fathers, they lived relatively peaceful lives. It is curious that they were not tormented by the things their father has done. Maybe it is a coping mechanism, or maybe it is just reality they live in. Perhaps, even with their support, they can acknowledge that while they are their father’s son, they are not their father.
The conversation with nature vs nurture, or perhaps innate character, is perhaps best illustrated with Ceausescu's children, Valentin and Nicu. With the same upbringing, and opportunities, one chose to be a monster, the other chose to be the light. Maybe chose is a difficult word for such a complex topic, because the norm is imitation. Growing up with the exposure of brutality, why not engage in this behavior? Why be different when your entire life you have witnessed this same? It seems the more you learn and understood about the children of evil, the more questions there seem to be.
Nordlinger’s, Children of Monsters is very unique to the genre of nonfiction, as most of his books are. His books raise the questions not often in asked on the topics not often addressed. His previous book, Peace, They Say is an analysis of the Nobel Peace Prize, its history, and the importance of its relevance today. As a senior editor for The National Review, and long time journalist, Nordlinger has written on an array of controversial topics such as communism, human rights, politics, and foreign affairs. He has won two award for his journalism -one was for using his talents for freedom and democracy in China, and the other, fittingly, was awarded for, “bearing witness to the evil of totalitarianism.”
From both an emotional and logical perspective, this book has credible appeal. In the Pathos argument, the way the children were raised, what they were forced to endure as offspring of the dictatorship, and the situations they made for themselves, all brought intense emotional turbulence to the surface. At the same time, it was cleverly balanced out with the Logos, dealing with the history, the rational arguments, and the analysis of human behavior and the choices that define us. The balance between both appeals, left a strong and intellectual argument with a powerful and emotional appeal for another one of Jay Nordlinger’s books.
Perhaps the final question we will ask, is how much slack we should cut the children of dictators? Being raised by an evil and culpable father does not excuse from moral responsibility, but being the son of a dictator does not give many available opportunities to explore the good nature of a human. Maybe the answer lies with Philippe Loret, the perceived grandson of Hitler, “I don’t think evil passes on. Of course, qualities from your parents pass on to you, but you build your own life, and you make what it is.” Perhaps if the dictators themselves, or the parents who raised them, held themselves to a higher standard of moral responsibility, they may have never become so evil in the first place.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

"هیتلر فرزندی نداشت. او همسر هم نداشت مگر اینکه بخواهید اِوا براون را به‌ حساب بیاورید. معشوقه‌ای که هیتلر درست قبل از خودکشی‌اش (و خودکشی اِوا) با او ازدواج کرد. این باید یکی از عجیب‌ترین عروسی‌ها در طول تاریخ باشد که در پناهگاهی زیرزمینی بعد از نیمه‌شب اتفاق افتاد. ضیافت شامل قدری شامپاین، ساندویچ و گپ‌های خودمانی غیرطبیعی بود. دوِ بعدازظهر روز بعد، تازه‌عروس و داماد خودکشی کردند.

هیتلر به‌ دلیل خودپسندی‌اش بود که واقعاً با آرمانش، یعنی آلمان (آن‌طور که او تصور می‌کرد)، ازدواج کرده بود. او روابطی با زنان داشت، ‌روابطی غیرعادی، عجیب و غیرمنتظره. این زنان عادت به خودکشی یا تلاش برای انجام آن داشتند. یکی از زنان تقریباً خواهرزاده ناتنی‌اش محسوب می‌شد: گِلی رائوبال دختر خواهر یا دختر خواهر ناتنی‌اش آنجلا. گِلی در 1929 وقتی 21 ساله بود آمد تا با «دایی آدلف» ش زندگی کند، ‌و بعد ماهیت رابطه آن‌ها موضوع حدس‌وگمان‌های زیادی شد. هیتلر از اینکه در جاهایی او را همراهی کند لذت می‌برد. به‌تدریج حس تملک‌گرایی هیتلر نسبت به او زیاد شد و به او دلبستگی یافت. در سپتامبر 1931، وقتی هیتلر در سفر بود، گِلی را در آپارتمانش مرده یافتند. او با شلیک اسلحه مرده بود. آیا واقعاً خودکشی بود؟ چرا این کار را کرده بود؟ این سؤالات هم موضوع حرف‌وحدیث‌های زیادی بوده است.

اما هیتلر فرزندی نداشت‌، و ما لازم نیست وقت زیادی روی او صرف کنیم غیر از اینکه مردی ادعا کرد پسر هیتلر است. درواقع، مادرش بود که ادعا کرد فرزندش، پسر هیتلر است و پسر و نیز دیگران، به‌شدت این موضوع را باور کردند. اسمش جین ماری لورت است بود (او در 1985 مرد). اسم مادرش شارلوت لوبجویی بود."

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a particularly deep or insightful book, but interesting and informative, and thought provoking nonetheless. It struck me that all the “dictators” discussed lived within the last (perhaps) 80 years, so all of this is recent history. And, it also struck me how much pure EVIL there has been ( and still is) in the world. Obviously, these men (and they were all men) don’t believe that there will ever be an accounting (in a religious sense), and so their evil deeds (in their own minds) can be done with impugnity. The world would be a much better place without any of these men, or those who support(ed) them in their evil ways. As far as the children, with very few exceptions, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. The rare exceptions are surprising and admirable.

[Casey Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it took me ages to read/finish, so that’s bad enough haha. Glad I finished it though because I got into it a little more in the second half.
Perhaps 2020 wasn’t the year to dig into a book filled with horrifying atrocities that humans do to each other.
My main complaint was that I found the author too sympathetic towards these people who’d done terrible things?
I dunno, just could not get jazzed by this no matter how hard I tried. But it was also fascinating lol so 3/5 it is.

[A Jolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting book. We all know of the dictators that ruled the 20th Century. Names like Stalin, Pol-Pot, Castro, Mao, Hussein, Gadaffi and others are very familiar. All of these men had families and were fathers, some times of many, many children. The authors takes each dictator and their family one chapter at a time. Some of the children of these dictators are well known, for example Svetlana Alliushevia, the daughter of Stalin, and Uday and Qusay Hussein, the sons of Sadam. Others were not so famous, but fascinating nonetheless. This is a very good read for any serious student of history.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise was super interesting and I was really excited to start this one. But the writing does not match the seriousness of the topic. The author is often glib and sometimes making jokes, sort of. I don't know quite how to describe it, but it was definitely disappointing.

[Joann Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories more interesting than others.

[Jessica Blitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting overview, but it asked more questions than it answered. The author had a glib sense of humor which was 50% funny and 50% wildly inappropriate given the topic.

[Schin · Rating 4 out of 5]

وقتى مى خريدمش توقع داشتم يك كتاب روان شناسانه و روان كاوانه باشه كه خود نويسنده هم اينو ادعا مى كنه و حتى تيتر ' ديكتاتور ها چگونه فرزندانى پرورش مى دهند؟'
ولى درستش اينه كه ' ديكتاتور ها چگونه فرزندانى پرورش دادند؟' چون صرفاً روايت كرده.
ترجمش هم ايراد نگارشى زياد داره كه با توجه به چند كتاب ديگه اى كه اخيراً خوندم حس مى كنم نكنه ويراست از مراحل چاپ كتاب حذف شده كلاً؟
در مجموع ارزش خوندن داره و منتظر آپديت شدن ليست ديكتاتور ها و سرنوشت بچه هاشون هستم اين روزا خيلى.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nordlinger has hit on a formula for his books beginning with his history of the Nobel Peace Prize. He uses biographies to tell a compelling story and weave an arc through the historical narrative. Each chapter of this book is a portrait of a dictator and his children and ultimately builds a case for a hand full of psychological profiles of the children (and in some instances grandchildren) of dictators. Nordlinger writes in a very conversational style that is very easy to read. It is not journalistic, but rather like you are having a chat in the living room. Given the author's long association with human rights campaigns (while still being counted as a political conservative), it is a perfect topic for him to comment on.

[Michelle Ule · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book because I'm intrigued by the premise: what would it be like to have been raised by a monster/despot/dictator/brutal disaster?

Miserable, obviously, but after an overview of the children of 20th century horrors, I expected Nordlinger to draw some sort of conclusion.

If he did, it was so obvious I overlooked it in my haste to be done with this book.

Part of the problem, frankly, was the writing. It meandered, backtracked, and didn't stay linear--just tell the story, draw some conclusions, reflect and move on to the next awful father.

I didn't see that happening and in the midst of such a nasty series of sketches, beautiful writing might have helped make this book worth reading.

Sorry.

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most interesting book, I almost read it straight through without putting it down. I have always loved Nordlinger's writing style itself. Reading him feels like he is in the room actually having a conversation with you.

On top of the style of this book, the topic is unique and horrifyingly fascinating. The book is exactly what the title suggests: biographical information about the worst dictators of the 20th century. This includes people like Mussolini, Stalin, Ma, the Kims of Korea, as well as the various beasts of Africa and the Middle East.

The children run the gamut; from beasts like their fathers, to normal well-adjusted every day people who have lived healthy lives in spite of their parents.

A fascinating read and well worth the time taken.

[Zahra Saedi · Rating 2 out of 5]

علاقه به تاریخ و مطالعه‌ی کتاب درخشان «مصائب آشپزی برای دیکتاتورها» باعث شد با اشتیاق سراغ این کتاب بروم اما لذتی که توقعش را داشتم به دست نیامد.
کتاب از فرزندان بیست دیکتاتور صحبت می‌کند، حتی دیکتاتورهایی که فرزند رسمی ثبت شده ندارند مثل هیتلر و بعضی‌ها را مفصل و بعضی‌ها را به صورت جزئی بررسی می‌کند.
علت اینکه کتاب را چندان دوست نداشتم این بود که نحوه‌ی روایت برایم جذاب نبود و بیشتر حس می‌کردم ویکیپدیا را می‌خوانم، داده‌هایی خام و تخت. بچه‌های دیکتاتورها سطحی تصویر شده بودند و در خیلی موارد توصیف به یک صفت منتهی شده بود و روایتی برای تکمیل و توضیح بیشتر وجود نداشت.
به نظرم ترجمه هم نیاز به ویرایش داشت و بعضی قسمت‌های کتاب روان نبود.

[Jennifer Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a completely compelling look into the private lives of dictators we regard as monstrous, and how their actions affected their children. It's filled with fascinating fun facts - like Stalin sniping that his son "couldn't even shoot straight" or that Mussolini's granddaughter posed for Playboy. Even if you're not a typical history buff, you'll want to share some of these tidbits with your friends for days or weeks to come. Oh, and if you're having problems with your parents, it'll put it in perspective.

[Kat Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the subject matter is inherently interesting, the writing is inappropriately playful, gossipy - (at times even lusty, especially when discussing certain wives and daughters) - considering how the figures who people these pages have committed the most egregious atrocities of modern history. The kicker is that the analysis promised in the introduction never happens, making the whole book no better or more insightful than a tabloid column.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book but thought the execution was a little lacking. Some of that wasn't the author's fault since, as he points out (and as I hadn't really thought of beforehand), dictators' regimes aren't exactly known for being the most open with information. But some of the writing in this book was just so clunky! Still an interesting read though.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like you've accidentally lost an entire afternoon to the Wikipedia rabbit hole. Interesting in turns, editorially clumsy in others.

[Nihilistic Librarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book as a follow up to an incredible book that came out this year "The Infernal Library," which was a historical narrative of the writings of dictators. I was excited to hear about the children of these legendary monsters and was let down tremendously. Nordlinger does an excellent job of reporting the facts; where the children live now, notable things they are doing, publications they have put out, and some that just wish to be left alone. But that's all we get.

This book left me wanting so much more. It was fascinating that 3 daughters of 3 dictators all who had their husbands murdered by their fathers were FRIENDS! But that's all Nordlinger gives the reader. I would have loved to read about the psychology behind these children who grew up in horrific regimes that they only found out about later in life. I think Nordlinger needed to do a lot more journalistic interviews and research. The book was dry and provided very little historical background and towards the end it just felt like the author rushed to publish the book.

I do not recommend this book, instead I suggest "The Infernal Library" by Daniel Kalder. Kalder is funny, witty, and in the face of the horrors he is writing about he keeps the reader's attention.

[Tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to rate this. I got about halfway through before deciding that, although I think this is a good book, I think I’ve gotten out of it everything I’m going to get. (Very similar to My Best Mistake.) I would certainly recommend it to someone interested in modern history, especially dictatorships and such, but that’s not me.

This is the second book that I picked up because it was the main source for an episode of Behind the Bastards, and I think I need to stop reading the source books. I also read Death of Democracy, which was also not really a great fit for my interests. I think it’s good to explore things beyond your usual interests, but the lesson of Owen Meany was to know when to quit.

Edit: One more thought. I wonder why he chose only to focus on modern dictators (from the last century). Whenever I think child of dictator, my first thought is always Julia, Augustus’ daughter, whose story is about as crazy as these ones. I don’t remember that being addressed in the foreword, but I’m just curious.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was difficult for me to rate. On the one hand, it is fairly meandering and there is no central thesis. On the other hand, I found it fascinating and couldn't put it down.

Children of Monsters tells the stories of the children of 20 modern dictators. The choice of dictators is quite arbitrary (the author admits as much) and they are grouped together roughly by time period and geography. I wish there had been South American dictators and I don't think the author should have included Tojo (or Hitler for that matter) but the subjects were all interesting. I did like how much time Nordlinger spent with Svetlana Stalin, who is undoubtedly the best of the bunch. I feel so much compassion for her and highly recommend the biography "Stalin's Daughter" for more about her life.

I wish there had been more of a central argument made by the author, but I was entertained by this book.

[Kristy Kulski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on how to accurately rate this book. It is absolutely fascinating and it opened a lot of doors to learning more about lesser known despots such as Bokassa (to Western audiences). But I struggled a lot with the author's tone. I found the asides intrusive, at times problematic (criticisms on naming customs in Asian languages/cultures for example) and weirdly obsessive focus on the sex lives of the book's subjects. Judgements litter the book on the character and respectability of the children (an odd admiration of Stalin's daughter Svetlana for example), versus discussing factual history, performing analysis on that history and in some cases over-reliance on secondary source material.
This is an enjoyable reading but keep it firmly in the category of "pop history" with some healthy assessment for author bias.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for something that posited some theories about how being raised in the unique circumstances of being progeny of a despotic ruler impacts a child's development and outcomes. This was more an short biography of the sons and daughters of famous dictators over the past century chapter by chapter, with very little in the way of insight into the themes and commonalities between various children across circumstances. While there is a brief segment at the end where the author makes a very surface-level attempt to integrate his findings, but it feels tacked-on and perfunctory. I was just hoping for more insight and work on the part of the author, but no such luck.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am fascinated at how these children turned out. And it really made me think about how hard it must be to have a famous father who murdered tons of people and maybe wasn't really involved with you as a father figure or maybe he was - but after his death, to see how these kids could be torn between the wrong their father did to a country, its people, maybe even them and the fact that he was still their father. Don't we all long to be loved and accepted by our fathers? I also learned a lot about these dictators and the countries where their tyranny ruled. Makes me so grateful to be an American!!

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about the children of dictators, (all men, naturally) and how they fare or fared; everyone from Hitler, (did he sire a child in France during World War I? Some thought so) to Stalin to Pol Pot and other developing world dictators. Most of them, frankly, are not very interesting people. They can be divided up into the "successors" like Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un, the "deplorables" like Saddam's two sons, the "normals", (not many of those; Pol Pot's daughter turned out o.k.) and the "implosions", (died young and penniless.)

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book was fascinating. It looks at the children of notorious dictators and how their father's lives affected them. Many supported and loved their fathers, others lived with complexity reconciling the dissonance between the man they loved and the man who hurt so many people.

Unfortunately there wasn't enough information to fully flesh out the children's biographies. I was hoping for more depth, but the lack of free media in most of these countries have left the impossible.
Maybe due to the same problem, the writing was at times repetitive.

[Linz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book on my shelf for years and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it. It’s a trip from beginning to end, a subject perfectly up my ally.

My only complaint with this book is that it is the kind of nonfiction that spawns a desire to read more nonfiction. Since it is just a survey or an inquiry, it flies over a lot of fascinating information that I deeply crave to know more about. Perhaps I will, if I get the chance.

Overall I would absolutely recommend this book. 12/10. The most fun I’ve had reading in a long while.