Ashish Khetan

Explore the cults of personality that surrounded eight of history's most chilling dictators in How to Be a Dictator by award-winning author Frank Dikötter. From Mussolini to Mao Zedong, the dictators of the 20th century understood that naked power alone was not enough to maintain control. This timely study examines how they cultivated the illusion of popular support and created a shroud of mystery through censorship and propaganda. With great narrative verve, the book explores how a cult takes hold, grows, and sustains itself, and asks whether these techniques are being revived by some of today’s world leaders.