Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy

Kenneth C. Davis

2020 urr. · Macmillan + ORM

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From the bestselling author of the Don’t Know Much About® books comes a dramatic account of the origins of democracy, the history of authoritarianism, and the reigns of five of history's deadliest dictators.

A Washington Post Best Book of the Year!A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year! A YALSA 2021 Nonfiction Award Nominee!

What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders—strongmen—capable of killing millions acquire their power? How are they able to defeat the ideal of democracy? And what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

By profiling five of the most notoriously ruthless dictators in history—Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein—Kenneth C. Davis seeks to answer these questions, examining the forces in these strongmen’s personal lives and historical periods that shaped the leaders they’d become.

Meticulously researched and complete with photographs, Strongman provides insight into the lives of five leaders who callously transformed the world and serves as an invaluable resource in an era when democracy itself seems in peril.

* "A fascinating, highly readable portrayal of infamous men that provides urgent lessons for democracy now." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Strongman is a book that is both deeply researched and deeply felt, both an alarming warning and a galvanizing call to action, both daunting and necessary to read and discuss." —Cynthia Levinson, author of Fault Lines in the Constitution

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Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times–bestselling author of America’s Hidden History and Don’t Know Much About® History, which gave rise to the Don’t Know Much About® series of books. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed In the Shadow of Liberty, an ALA Notable Book and a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, as well as More Deadly Than War, which was named a Washington Post Best Children’s Book of the Month. His new book is Great Short Books: A Year of Reading—Briefly. A frequent media guest, Davis enjoys both in-person and virtual visits with middle- and high-school classrooms to discuss history, research, writing, and the importance of reading. He lives in New York City and can be found at dontknowmuch.com and on Twitter @kennethcdavis.