Strongmen : Mussolini to the present / Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ben-Ghiat, Ruth, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dictators.

Dictatorship.

Authoritarianism.

Heads of state--Africa.

Heads of state.

Heads of state--Europe.

Heads of state--Latin America.

Africa.

Europe.

Latin America.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 358 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2020]

Summary:

"What modern authoritarian leaders have in common (and how they can be stopped). Ours is the age of authoritarian rulers: self-proclaimed saviors of the nation who evade accountability while robbing their people of resources and corroding or destroying democracy. Their mutual-admiration club also draws on models from the past. Vladimir Putin rehabilitates Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin, Donald Trump praises Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi, Jair Bolsonaro admires Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan invokes Adolf Hitler as the model of an efficient leader. Ruth Ben-Ghiat covers a century of authoritarianism to explain why strongman rulers in Africa, Europe, and Latin America, drawing from a common playbook of machismo, propaganda, violence, and corruption, have found popular support even as they bring ruin to their countries. The fruit of decades of research, Strongmen gives readers insight into how such rulers think, who and what they depend on, and how they can be opposed"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Part 1. Getting to power. Fascist takeovers ; Military coups ; New authoritarian ascents

Part 2. Tools of rule. A greater nation ; Propaganda ; Virility ; Corruption ; Violence

Part 3. Losing power. Resistance ; Endings

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [265]-336) and index.

ISBN:

9781324001546

1324001542

OCLC:

1192304012