Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think!

by Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa, Kasia Babis (Illustrator)

Co-hosts of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation outline the authoritarian's playbook, illuminating five steps every dictator needs to take to successfully amass and maintain power.

Do you crave the power to shape the world in your image?

Can you tell lies without blinking an eye?

Do you see enemies all around you?

If you answered yes to all of the above, then this is the job for you! And if becoming a dictator sounds intriguing, well, you’ve just stumbled upon the playbook that will guide you step by step towards making your big lie a reality.

Join Gaslit Nation co-hosts Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa, with artist Kasia Babis, on a journey from riches to even more riches. They’ll show you how to consolidate your authority, silence your critics, weaponize your citizens, and even prolong your inevitable downfall!

Dictatorship! It’s easier than you think.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2023

About the author

Sarah Kendzior is the New York Times bestselling author of They Knew, Hiding in Plain Sight, The View from Flyover Country, and The Last American Road Trip.

She has a PhD in anthropology from Washington University in St Louis, where she researched politics and digital media in authoritarian states of the former Soviet Union. From 2012 to 2014, she wrote op-eds for Al Jazeera English, and from 2016 to 2020, she wrote op-eds for The Globe and Mail. She has a newsletter (https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/) and lives in St. Louis with her husband and children.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

With whipsmart text and bold graphic drawings, Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think!'s light satiric touch makes this terrifying subject go down smoothly. Broken down by topics such as: "Find a Useful Idiot," "Personality Cult," "Gut all Institutions of Accountability," "Create a National Crisis," "Attack the Press," and so on make this work a relatively easy read and quite digestible.

Part history lesson and part warning--included are Stalin, Hitler, Pinochet, Ceausescu, Mussolini, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, etc. and reminders of the millions of people who have been murdered and disappeared as well as of the limited, suppressed lives that the people under these dictators live.

The authors and artist want to be sure we are awake, vigilant, and actively engaged with local and national events to prevent future atrocities. This entertaining and informative work is increasingly relevant as we see more democracies slide into authoritarianism and events evolve right here at home.

This work concludes with a quote from Hannah Arendt:

"The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either good or evil."

Charles, I am thankful for that whim that led you to pick up this book and share it with me! 🫣

Publication 2023

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five shining stars for this clever, humorous perspective on dictatorships, taking irreverent jabs at propaganda, historical revisionism, censorship, nepotism, made-up crises, corrupt security services, and way, way more. It wasn’t a given that such an angle would work, and I’m likely of the right generation, education level, and geographic privilege to enjoy the heartfelt irony contained in these pages; don’t go thinking I’m not aware of it.

This leaves millions of other (progressive, well-traveled, insolent) people like me to do the same and read this brilliant book. I picked it up on a whim, myself, never having seen it advertised or reviewed anywhere. I’m so glad I did. Everything from illustrations to paper stock comes together to support this unique reading experience. Despite its gloomy premise, the graphic novel turns out to be, well, beautiful, really.

This part wasn’t planned, but I read this at the same time as Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, in this case wanting to focus on recent developments in artificial intelligence from a social perspective, and there happened to be a fair amount of overlap. It makes sense when you think of it, with the control of information playing such a crucial role in politics not only nowadays, but as far as we can remember.

Wow. Just wow. I’ll be recommending this title for a long time to come.

[Books Over People · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a graphic novel takes four days to read and has 20 pages of citations at the end, you know something special is happening. Part love letter to Hannah Arendt and part huge warning, this book leans into the argument, “it isn’t a how to.” Satire works best when facing the truth. Thanks to Net Galley and First Second books for the ARC. Wow.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, informative, well-researched, but ultimately very frightening. I'm a bit of a history buff, but I learned a lot of terrible facts.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it, read it, talk about it, share it.

Even though it's not new, it's incredibly timely (but more on that below).

Despite the difference in size, format, color, and approach, I'd encourage you to shelve or display or recommend this along with Tim Snyder's On Tyranny.

Sure, there's innumerable reasons to not buy, not read, or not like the book. So what? Go ahead and read it.

Yup, it's a graphic novel (OK, a nicely bound, relatively expensive, adult comic book ) ... but, hey, the rebirth of comics and graphic novels began decades ago (in a prior century), the market for compelling (and best selling) non-fiction (and, yes fiction) graphic novels is now well established, and ... frankly, given the density (and, ok, gravity) of the content and the wealth of examples and anecdotes, the format makes it more accessible.

How serious can a comic book be? Deadly serious.

How persuasive can a comic book be? Plenty.

How important can a comic book be? Ask the folks who want to ban books. You'll consistently find graphic novels on (and often at the top of) the most banned book lists....

But I digress.

And, yes, it jumps around ... and, at times, it's superficial, bordering on flip, but ... but ... but ... it's serious research painstakingly organized and packaged for folks who might not read, I dunno, Anne Applebaum's Autocracy, Inc.. Oh, and, if you feel compelled to nerd out, the back-of-the-book bibliography spans something in the neighborhood of 25 pages.

Good and bad news: OK, so the good news is that the book was published in 2023, in that (in retrospect, all so brief and overly optimistic) period between the two Trump administrations, which means it's available now, or, in other words, no one has to wait for it to come out. The bad news is that it was written, apparently, with the expectation that there wouldn't be a second Trump administration. [Quaint note, buried on page 75: "... not all aspiring dictators can hold on to power[,] no matter how hard the try!" It wouldn't surprise me to see Kendzior and her colleagues roll out an updated and supplemented edition.

Disclosing my priors: Kendzior won me over a number of years ago, and this is the fourth book of hers I've read (and I've already pre-ordered her new, forthcoming book). But I'm going to put that in the plus column.

In the meantime, I hope that book stores and librarians are displaying and highlighting the book on the (proverbial, figurative, or actual) table by the door.

[[Jamie] · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's so much to unpack in this book it's insane. Super interesting and easy to tackle, while still making you think about what's going on around you. Also very nice to finally get some enlightenment as to what the hell is going on with North Korea's dictatorship since they dont teach you that in general American education.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. Very depressing.

And kudos for all the references in the back - we love a good citations page! Or 6.

[Jeannette McCalla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured this. Wow. Recommending it to everyone!

[Abby Hargreaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming to you from the podcast Gaslit Nation is Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think!, a how-to manual for the aspiring totalitarian ruler. taught by an energetic and charming gameshow host, this comic outlines all the necessary steps of becoming a successful dictator and the many historical examples that embody one.

This comic was hugely informative to me and I was surprised to hear of many dictatorships I hadn't previously. The authors are quite thorough of their investigation into dictatorships throughout history, though there's a natural focus on "movements" of the 20th and 21st centuries. Authors Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa along with artist Kasia Babis break down the elements that brought power to these dictators -- and would-be dictators -- from Hitler to Trump and beyond. Each chapter focuses on a strategy or piece, from the treatment of the press to the idea of a "useful idiot" and how those things contribute to a thriving dictatorship.

Dictatorship also touches on movements and individuals against dictatorships, most notably George Orwell. Somewhat brilliantly, in demystifying and deconstructing dictatorships, the book successfully informs the reader how to dismantle and resist one, even without stating this how-to explicitly. It's incredibly clever and, with its thoroughness, empowers the reader to act in a number of ways at various levels, making rebellion extra accessible. The art behind the text is incredibly engaging and well-done, too, with a pitch-perfect style for the content and overall approach.

There are sections that go on a few too may beats or are too repetitive (though one instance acknowledges purposeful repetition as an in-text example of how repetition and visibility works to a dictator's advantage). It's a small price to pay for a book that packs in so much information and in such a great format, however. The title and seeming premise seem to suggest something more of a gameshow format and I think I expected actual dictators posed as would-be dictators learning by playing, but the final work was ultimately just as effective as this concept.

This is one I'd love to see taught in high school as well as enjoyed as a piece of entertaining information -- despite the horrors that lie within.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dictatorship provides a surprisingly fun look at what it takes to become a dictator. While the knowing nods to Trump are a tad overdone, the majority of the dictators included here are truly significant villains - but largely successful ones. Dictatorship breaks down the path to power in easily definable chunks, though the book is so heavy with anecdotes it can be hard to follow a given thread.

Still, the anecdotes are interesting, particularly when focused on less commonly known dictators, like the leaders of former Soviet states. The art is jazzy and engaging, keeping affairs light even as the dictators keep doing despicable things. It would have been nice to have a deeper history lesson (for example, the Roman root of the term "dictator" isn't mentioned, that I saw), but Dictatorship certainly serves it's purpose well.

[Carolanne Foucher]

Bon petit cours d'histoire de la dictature. Fou quand même, que ça ait été publié en 2023 et que ce soit... si loin de la réalité actuelle américaine. Trump est mentionné très souvent, mais à ce moment-là il n'est pas de retour au pouvoir, donc il y a un sentiment «d'échappée belle» qu'on... qu'on sent plus en lisant ça en 2025.

[Natasha Claudio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a very informative and deep dive into the history of dictators and how they came to power. There is a lot of history in this book that is either glossed over or has been left out of many political conversations. I think this book needs to be read by anyone who is voting in the upcoming presidential election. The authors expose the ideology surrounding the Trump regime and rather truthfully, call him the “autocrat” he hopes to become. It is the perfect critique of Trump and other dictator personality types.
This book really delves into how delicate democracy is and how easily it is to transform minds into supporting dictators. From World War II to January 6th- this book exposes the ugly truths behind the terrible leaders who have carried out atrocities. a must read!!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, highly recommend this graphic novel as an entertaining way to learn about the histories and methods of various historical dictators... and recognize the parallels in our world today.

My only criticism is the book could feel a bit disorganized, jumping around and back to the same figures at different parts. An appendix with the names of people and countries would go a long way towards making this usable as reference material.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A difficult but important read.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, frightening information, backed up with many citations. i found the font difficult to read, and the book could have been edited to make it more powerful and focused.

[Dawnelle Wilkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet effing christ...

[Matthew Noe]

Booklist review pending

[McKenna Deem · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

Look out world, I’m coming for you and making you all my little subordinates! With this guide, I’m sure I’ll get it done before I get assassinated…maybe?

Funny, smart, and informative, this graphic novel is a snarky response to fascism and dictators. Sometimes the organization was confusing but overall good!

[Ava Courtney Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

This looked to be right up my alley: I'm a huge fan of one of the artists, and dictators are a subject of horrified fascination to me. I opened the book with eager anticipation, only to find that it's unreadable in digital format for me. From what I could discern from going through the art, I think I'd love this book, if only I could read it.

Please consider not just vision-impaired readers like me; even average folks would struggle to make sense of 8-point font. Being able to zoom in is essential to reading comics digitally.

[Daniel Montague · Rating 3 out of 5]

P. 11: Dictators never die. They leave a lasting impact on the countries they traumatize-a useful legacy for aspiring autocrat successors.
P. 53: Propaganda doesn’t just destroy the truth. It makes the very idea of civic life inextricable from the desires of the dictator. Over time captive citizens come to believe it’s hopeless to challenge the rule of the state.
P. 152: Whether it’s extremist Buddhist monks carrying out genocide in Myanmar or evangelicals supporting Bolsonaro’s regime in Brazil, religious extremism and hate speech go hand in hand.

While, this book appears to be an easy breezy read from its graphic novel format to its tongue in cheek delivery style, there is much (too much?) information. Heavily researched and heavily cited this work explores dictatorships throughout the 20th century into the 21st century and how they come about. The authors have a “formula” in which leaders use to become dictators. Chapter by chapter they show how various dictators have enacted their policies and how they have attained their power.

My favorite thing about this graphic novel is the minutiae, the little tidbits and facts that populate this work. Such as learning that famed playwright George Bernhard Shaw was bamboozled by Joseph Stalin into propping up the Soviet Union in the 1930s by plying him with visions of a Soviet paradise through depictions of a Potemkin village and of “honorary” dinners filled with food and drink. How even through mountains of evidence of Stalin’s barbarous activities especially in his treatment of Tartars and Ukrainians, he kept the “faith” even having a giant portrait of Stalin overlooking his deathbed. Or how, Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov went from being an anti-religious proto-Soviet leader to an Islamic Uzbek nationalist in a blink of an eye after the fall of the Soviet Union, replacing a statue of Lenin with one of Tamerlane. Of course he seemed normal compared to Saparmarat Niyazov the dictator of Turkmenistan. Niyazov, much like Mao’s Red book, wrote a manifesto known as Ruhnama, which detailed his philosophy and “history” which became mandatory reading as citizens were required to pass a test based on the text in order to perform most tasks, including driving a vehicle. Eccentric acts included: attempting to build an ice palace in a country known for its desert conditions, renaming the months after himself and his family, erecting golden statues of himself and creating his own alphabet.

The largest issue I had with this work is that it does not have an understanding of what it wants to accomplish. Is it trying to be a serious work of history, full of facts and figures, a satire, mocking the absurdity of many of the dictators, who inspire terror in spite of their proclivities, or is it a warning to watch out for future tyrants who are exhibiting the “tools” of despotism? As such, it becomes muddled and even repetitive. I feel that the section on the World War II leaders of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini could have been pared down drastically; forests of trees have already been written about these assholes. While, it is good to keep a balance politically, the extended section on Pinochet seemed just like a chance to dunk on Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger, which is fine in general, but in this case, seemed contrived. The elephant in the room or in this case the orangutan flinging his feces is Donald Trump. Clearly, Donald Trump has an attachment to a certain type of politician-one who projects strength through fear and authority. There is little doubt that he would love to gain more power and adulation and exhibits next to no impulse control. In saying that, this work stretches the Donald Trump is a burgeoning dictator narrative to an extreme level. Maybe I am hopeful or just ignorant, but I feel like you could have a number of political figures that display similar characteristics that could be shoehorned just as easily as Trump. Therein, lays the biggest concern of a book that tries to predict the future based on criteria in which so many world leaders are guilty of. Even if you agree on the premise that Trump is a narcissist, whose repellant words and actions are bad for mankind, this does not make him unique. Overall, this work has redeeming qualities, which is more than can be said for its subject matter, and as such is worthy of 3 golden statues.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher First Second Books for an advanced copy of this graphic novel about how easy it is to lose something that many people don't understand, and how our inactivity is allowing creeps, cretins, abusers and/or plain old grifters to destroy everything we hold dear.

The question that goes thorough my mind most often living in America is are people just lazy or are they as dumb as the politics they expound. Or as so many are learning is all just a grift, feign outrage, ask for money, make profit to paraphrase South Park's gnome characters. Add to that a media who seems not to understand that ratings does not always mean good things, publishers who give book deal to book burners, well not yet, book banners, and one gets a sense that failure is just right around the corner. I'm sure the comments here will all be brilliant phrases that Edmund Burke, Thomas Jefferson and Walter Bagehot would go, I wish I had thought of that. And that is exactly what those who want to control everything want. Uncertainty, nastiness, and an untrusting electorate. Real problems will never be solved, is everyday some fake outrage is brought up, time wasting on bathrooms, or Disney movies, while the world gets hotter, and rights slowly erode. Everything I have stated is laid out quite clearly in the remarkable graphic novel, Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! by journalist and podcaster Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa, with art by Kasia Babis. This is a guide to how to fool some of the people all of the time, and confuse them so much with hyped up rage, that no one ever looks at the man behind the curtain. And by the time anyone does, it is much too late.

The book is basically a guide to ruining the world. How the people go from It can't happen here, to let it happen here, so we can be great again. There are plenty of examples, from here and around the world, all laid out and footnoted. What is interesting is even with the added technology the playbook is still the same. Accuse, deny, destroy the ways of getting real information, lie, and repeat. Deny the truth, and keep defying with the loudness of voice, and simplest of messages. Always have an enemy, something easy to blame everything on. Having a willing media, especially in this time of media conglomerates who look at the stock price, more than doing anything for the people. And to those reporters who still do their jobs, demean them, set lackeys on them, accuse them of bias, or not telling both sides.

The graphic novel is depressing in the fact that this is not new, but to a country that has no sense of its own history or wants to do their own research, research which always seem to agree with what they feel, well it makes sense. That and the fact that humans hate to be wrong. And will bring down a country to not ever have to admit it they were fooled. This is a hard book in that it is true in so many ways. And for that reason I am sure it will be banned in most states.

I don't envy the writers and their comments that I m sure that will follow here or online. I am sure they will be attacked for being anti-American, Communists, socialists, Northerners, Yankee Fans, whatever the insult du jour is this week. This is a big book, and might scare some people, but it is an important book, and one that really should be discussed, and shared. If anything it is great to see some people give a darn where this country is going.

[Jeff B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty great. This is a book about how dictators come to power and all the tricks in their playbook. It doesn't really matter if they're far right or far left, their playbook is quite similar. Of course, while this book covers some of the most effective dictators of the last 100 years, make no mistake, this book is about Donald J. Trump and makes the point repeatedly that his shtick isn't that different than those dictators that came before him.

In many ways, this book reminds me of a few other similar books I have read like On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century & How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. I think this one might be my fav so far as this material works well in the graphic novel format. I also learned some stuff that make this book worthy of your time even if you have read those two books I have mentioned.

I didn't know George Orwell was active in the Spanish Civil War fighting on the Marxist side and how he was a marked target and considered an enemy by Joseph Stalin.

Four Nobel Peace Prize recipients are mentioned in this book and two of them are complete scumbags (Henry Kissinger & Aung San Suu Kyi)

It was disappointing to learn of the useful idiots that dictators use like George Bernard Shaw that legitimized and defend these tyrants. We saw so clearly during Trump's administration how grifters (and sometimes good people) would join his cabinet to further their own cause.

I am conflicted on the last chapter that paints the entire history of the USA as ideological dictator of white supremacy. I think that a lot of it was true, but to compare an ideology to a person is a mistake. The dictator doesn't seem to be about an ideology but about service to the ego. I have no doubt Trump hates immigrants and Muslims, but I think he would change on a dime in exchange for power and ego gratification. Trump is about Trump, not an ideology, as were most the dictators explored in this book.

[Cecily Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic history of recent dictatorships is a thoroughly engaging experience. For one thing, the chapters are headed with such charged language as Chapter 3's "Purge, Purge, Purge," and each section in each chapter sets out the adjunct steps for achieving that goal as well as copious examples of historical dictators and their symbols.
I admit that I was well or vaguely aware of nearly every cited example of dictatorial excess. It seems I cut my baby teeth on World War II history and the excesses of Uganda's Idi Amin. Of course, as a Brit, I read George Orwell's canon years ago and may be in urgent need of re-reading it. But I shucked my admiration for George Bernard Shaw who, it turns out, was the Soviet Union's "useful idiot." I also remembered why I stopped watching CNN.
The authors' descriptions of Potemkin villages and the manifold tricks for achieving dictatorial powers are eye-opening, so much so that I will likely refer to my notes whenever the need for a villain pops up in my fiction.
The illustrations are sharp, colorful, and punchy, and every chapter is a primer for the individual pursuing the goal of dictatorship. I'm not sure if Donald J. Trump is the model guiding the structure of this book (his attempts to overthrow democracy and his "fake news" outbursts sure fit the pattern) or if he's merely one hopeful in this pernicious game of repression.
A wonderful read if you happen to be a person who appreciates personal freedom.

[J H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Packed with so much information on dictatorship and politics around the world. This graphic novel is not any ordinary story - it’s a non-fiction work of research with beautiful illustrations on every page. Information ranging from the history of dictatorship, the patterns, rise and fall of power, the causes and impacts of dictatorship, and forcing readers to reflect on these characteristics of dictatorship found in recent politics.

Liked:
Interesting color palette choice.

Every single page is colored and is beautifully illustrated.

Illustrations are easy to understand and go well with the written contents.

Illustrations are amusing to look at most of the time, as they further personify and soften these devious politicians.

Thoughts:
More impactful, I think, if the reader is from the U.S. as the book doesn’t start off with listing the US as a dictatorship ruling in the beginning until the middle.

The book is packed with so much information, as shown from the pages of cited works; it gets heavier as I read on (it was impossible for me to finish in one sitting); and in fact, it’s pretty draining due to all the negativity (the sad, hard truth) behind dictatorship.

The book urges readers to be aware and take action rather than be idle and watch as dictator-like politicians take control and harm innocent lives and affect the rest of the world.

[Suzie Yu · Rating 1 out of 5]

It really bashes you over the head with its contemporary political message. Now I already believed in this message, but reading this book did not do much to increase my belief, and I doubt it would sway someone not already convinced. I also found the content poorly organized and way too dense in words, such that it was often repetitive, cluttered, and difficult to read (literally difficult too – the font size was a bit small). It would've been more interesting if it focused more on the history of previous dictatorships, especially the ones history classes in the US don't comment a lot about – for example, the part about USSR atrocities in Ukraine, and about southeast Asian governments, were the few parts I actually found interesting. If it went more in depth into a range of dictatorships, from the more well known ones to the lesser known ones, and focused on their horrors and similarities to drive home how we need to avoid this, it would've been far more informative and educational. And then perhaps, we could have an ending chapter that relayed contemporary occurrences, and allowed readers to draw their own comparisons and conclusions without the darn narrator pretending to be slick and snarky, winking and raising eyebrows and being like "doesn't that remind you of a certain someone" as a Trump caricature lurks in the background, after every single section of the book.

[Paul Frandano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not truly please with the illustrations and the ubiquitous, smirking presenter cartoon, but the content and messages concerting how dictatorships happen are priceless. Moreover, the cover says a great deal about the dictatorial lineage, including Trump (whose campaign and presidency were as antidemocratic as he could get away with) in the unlovable "Gallery of the Worst Monsters"--Mao, Putin, Stalin, and Hitler. Paperback copies of this book should be distributed throughout the country at bargain prices, starting today. Readers will recognize the steps necessary to flip a democracy over to a dictatorship. Perception and lies trumps truth. Propaganda trumps facts. Phony populism trumps genuine concerns. Journalists are "enemies of the people." Defenseless scapegoats are routinely blamed for the problems of your world. Security organs are available to pressure and terrorize the scapegoats. And on and on.

Read this graphic non-fiction tutorial to understand the danger posed to democracy throughout the free world.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite well done. As a graphic essay, it has the potential to reach a broader audience than your usual political science treatise. Whether the people that really need to hear this will pick it up and read it, though, remains to be seen.
Two minor quibbles:
In distilling a lot of historical examples as well as some political theory and philosophy into a handy little romp, the authors rely on equally “quick” summaries from news and magazine articles rather than the actual scholarship. Pet peeve, but please give the researchers who have spent years on this their due instead of just citing the journalists and essayists whose work is based on those researchers’ work.
The tone of our “tour guide” seems to shift from time to time: Sometimes he plays the “instructor” teaching readers how to be a dictator, other times he sounds more like a critic of the dictators. I found that a bit distracting. And yes, I realize that this is satire; but I think the satire doesn’t quite work the way it is written in certain parts of the book.

[Cale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the only graphic novel I've read that had a longer bibliography is From Hell.

This provides an uncomfortable view at how relatively simply dictators can take over, and the tricks and challenges they run into. There's lots of good information, much of it depressing (although the book is consistently entertaining). as a variety of world dictators' experiences are explored. I wasn't completely clear on the order much of the book is presented in, but it does make it easy to read (and re-read) in discrete chunks, so the information doesn't become too overwhelming.
The art is cartoonish, which also helps soften the blow. The color choices are interesting, with heavy purple and blue hues that make the whole book feel a bit like a bruise.

As a long-time listener to Gaslit Nation, I've heard a lot of this material in various forms before, but it's still good to have it in an easily shared medium. Definitely recommended.

[Alexander Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a non-fictional narrated cartoon revealing the traits and techniques of dictatorship. I thought the broad survey of dictatorships to be useful. Naturally, Donald Trump was salted into the examples. Following the bruising election season we just finished, it was more than a little irritating to read about how we are descending into dictatorship (again, I guess) while never touching on our modern FBI, our January 7 prosecutions, and the Washington based control of our social media. It is amazing and by me, still misunderstood how Hitler highjacked a democracy. I do know how Stalin purged his country, put on show trials, and invited "useful idiots" (Lenin's term) to promote his dictatorship. I think to get the ball rolling in the reader's mind about these issues, this is a useful book. Now carve away the dross and bullcrap of our election season, and I consider this to be a good book. Its an easy read too.

[S. Wigget · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a graphic novel, this is slow going because of the disturbing subject matter.

Wow--I didn't know this about George Bernard Shaw--that he was a "useful idiot" for Stalin. Disturbing. As a teen, I discovered Shaw at a public library--or actually I think it began with a dramatic reading of Arms and the Man on Chicago's classical radio station or public radio--and I read many of his plays. During my undergrad years, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis (on our campus) put on a gorgeous production of Pygmalion, which I saw numerous times. So... this Stalin stuff is disturbing.

When Kissinger died, I may have sung, "Ding dong, the bitch is dead!" We celebrated. I just remembered that back when I worked in the box office of the St. Louis Symphony, there was a speaker series... and one of the speakers was Kissinger. I was grossed out not only because he was welcome at my workplace but also by my asshole coworkers--an admittedly everyday occurrence in that workplace. #psychopath