Strongmen

With a steady gaze and an eye for the telling detail, Ruth Ben-Ghiat delivers a timely analysis of how a certain kind of charisma delivers political disaster - and some valuable hints about how it can be resisted, and the virtues we will need to rebuild democracy -- Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an indispensable resource on authoritarianism, past and present. Everyone who cares about American democracy should read this book -- Sarah Kendzior, author of Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America Ben-Ghiat's portrayal of fascist era tyrants, murderous Cold War dictators, and would-be tyrants in our own day gives us a gripping and illuminating picture of how strongmen have deployed violence, seduction, and corruption. History, Ben-Ghiat shows, offers clear lessons not only about how these regimes are built, but also how they must be opposed, and how they inevitably end -- Daniel Ziblatt, co-author How Democracies Die Simultaneously intimate and sweeping in scope, STRONGMEN brings us in close to dictators and would-be dictators across decades and continents. We are left with a disturbing look in the mirror. Throughout, Ben-Ghiat's clear prose rings with a rhythm and cadence that today's nonfiction too often lacks -- Sarah Chayes, author of On Corruption in America: And What Is at Stake and Thieves of State Deep insight and a vigorous style ... a brilliant contribution to the political psychology of democracy -- Joy Connolly, President of the American Council of Learned Societies Praise for Ruth Ben-Ghiat: [A] surpassingly brilliant public intellectual... -- Virginia Heffernan on Slate Trumpcast