The Language of Evil: How Dictators Manipulate the Masses and Wield Power Through Words

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Guy Doza (University of Cambridge)

The Language of Evil

How Dictators Manipulate the Masses and Wield Power Through Words

Guy Doza (University of Cambridge)

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English

Canbury
24 April 2025

linguistics; European history; Asian history; Political leaders & leadership; Political structures: totalitarianism & dictatorship

To kill democracy, control the masses and destroy entire nations, dictators have always used the same secret weapon: the unmatched power of the spoken word.

In this captivating history of language and power, speechwriter Guy Doza sets out how dictators have seized and maintained control of states through their mastery of oratory.

He shows how, despite their fearsome reputation, strongmen such as Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were surprisingly subtle and skillful in their speeches. Less notorious female tyrants (have you heard of Ranavalona I, the ‘Mad Queen of Madagascar’ who killed half of her subjects, or Chairman Mao’s murderous wife Jiang Qing?) were differently but equally manipulative.

As well as revealing the wordplay of each of 18 despots, Doza analyses the rhetorical techniques they shared. How Attila the Hun and Napoleon Bonaparte showered flattery on their troops and deliberately aggrandised their enemies. And how two violent 20th Century leaders, Zaire’s President Mobuto and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, portrayed themselves as the father of their respective nations to nurture their ethos.

For, irrespective of time, geography and language, dictators and their allies consistently reuse the same methods of persuasion. In a ‘post-truth’ age where simplified messages overpower sophisticated ones, The Language of Evil equips readers to spot the same tricks and techniques being used today by tomorrow’s would-be dictators.

Reviews

'The handbook that humanity needs right now – not simply to understand the dangerous rhetoric of demagogues, but how to resist it.' – Terry Szuplat, former policy speechwriter for President Barack Obama and author of Say It Well.

‘Whatever happens in the street, the populist mobs have to be fired up first. That’s where words come in. Guy Doza’s Language of Evil is a fascinating analysis of the speechifying that empowers tyranny through the malign careers of eighteen dictators, from Julius Caesar to Saddam Hussein.’ – Jonathon Green, Lexicographer

By: Guy Doza (University of Cambridge)
Imprint: Canbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 300g
ISBN: 9781914487644
ISBN 10: 1914487648
Pages: 270
Publication Date: 24 April 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Julius Caesar Attila the Hun Wu Zetian Chinggis Khan Queens of Europe Isabella of Castile Queen Mary I Queen Elizabeth I Napoleon Ranavalona I Benito Mussolini Joseph Goebbels Adolf Hitler Joseph Stalin Eva Perón Jiang Qing Mobutu Indira Gandhi Saddam Hussein Conclusion Glossary of Terms Index

Guy Doza is a speechwriter, trainer, and public affairs consultant. He started his career in political research before branching out into corporate speechwriting. He now works for a range of international clients, for whom he writes on a variety of subjects. A two-time TEDx speaker, Guy has lectured on rhetoric at several of the world's leading universities. His first book is a general guide to persuasive speaking and writing, How to Apologise for Killing a Cat: Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion (Canbury Press, 2022).

Reviews for The Language of Evil: How Dictators Manipulate the Masses and Wield Power Through Words

'At a time when so many leaders around the world are stoking fear and hate, Guy Doza's brilliant The Language of Evil is the handbook that humanity needs right now – not simply to understand the dangerous rhetoric of demagogues, but how to resist it.' – Terry Szuplat, former foreign policy speechwriter for President Barack Obama