The Secret History of the Great Dictators
Real-Life Accounts of History's worst tyrants
Diane Low (2009)
The underlying story somehow sounds almost the same. The will be a crisis, some one will come to the rescue, his policies will be praised, he will overstay his welcome and then things will only spiral downwards and would go down in history for all the wrong reasons.
Most leaders try to create an enemy for them to stay as long as they can. Unfortunately the truth of these can only be ascertained in hindsight.
Save for a few leaders who are genuinely sick in the head, most of the dictators are generally people who never really shined in their early part of their careers.
This book gives a good review of some of the leaders that we have heard of but never really had the chance to learn in depth.
Emperor Caligula was rated as the most heinous dictator of all time in 'History Channel'. His unconventional childhood compounded by an episode of 'brain fever' seem to explain the extreme bloodshed, deviant sexual debauchery and grandeur that reigned during the time of his power.
Genghiz Khan who is often praised for his conquering prowess is also infamous for his inhumane treatment of his subjects and foes. He not only killed his enemies but their descendants too. As he and his men treat water as something very divine, they make it a point not to waste it on something as meaningless as bathing. Hence, their extreme body odour is another of their secret weapon to defeat their enemies! Towards the end of his life, he tried to become religious but it may be more towards achieving immortality!
Ivan the terrible, the person who established the Romanov dynasty was the first Czar of Russia. Even though he was brought up as an orthodox Christian, he still believed in his pagan beliefs. While the rest of Europe was embracing Renaissance, he kept Russia in dark ages with killing, witch hunt and savagery.
Josef Stalin, a cobbler's son dropped out of seminary school after being captivated by Darwin and Marx writings. Starting as an average party worker who never really shined, he steamrolled himself to great heights to establish the Gulag and kill over 40 million people.
We all know about Adolf Hitler and his antics that brought the whole world to its knees. What most people do not know is his perverted sexual preferences, his syphilitic infection from a Jewish sex worker and his affair with his niece who died a mysterious death.
Mao Zedong is another master planner and a perfectionist poet who brought short lived prosperity to a crumbling nation. His reign was, however, marred by widespread famine which killed over 30 million and indoctrination of generation to become non-thinking zombies. Many valuable ancient history was lost in his book burning exercise of Cultural Revolution.
In the Central African Republic, there was a mad dictator in the 1970s with had a fetish with Napoleon Bonaparte and everything French. The country which started as a slave nation in a fabled kingdom became sought after when diamonds were found there. The dictator, declared himself as Emperor Bokassa I spent a third of the country's national budget for his coronation. During his reign he amassed diamond profits, blurred the demarcation between his bank account and that of the country's. He is said to have dined on human flesh, had 17 wives and 50 children. He was exiled but later lived on his earnings like a king.
Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania started life as a stammering communist who played an important role in the post WW2 Soviet controlled Romania. He gain limelight for standing against the Russian intervention. The Western bloc played devils' advocate to create disharmony in Romania. As he became the President, he and his wife also developed a sense of grandeur and paranoia. While the whole country was immersed in poverty, he and his family were drowning in luxury and megalomania!
Idi Amin was literally a mad man on a cocktail of anti psychotic medication. His gung ho way of 'overkilling' in a situation earned him a reputation as an effective problem solver. This trait eventually earned him the post of President. This 'Last King of Scotland' (due to his fetish with everything Scottish) was sort of an international joke. He made preposterous anti Jewish and anti Western statements. He embraced Islam after a meeting with his good friend, Moammar Gaddafi of Libya. Whilst the economy was going down the drain, he continued with his obscenely lavish lifestyle. His harem of ladies, the fleet of wives, his indulgence in cannibalism and outlandish behaviours were the reason for his downfall.
The poorest nation on the planet, the voodoo land, Haiti, has always been unlucky with its leaders. Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, a soft spoken doctor, hold the reputation of being able to siphon off millions from US when the threat of communism was looming in Central America. He rigged the election and used US money for him own coffers whilst the whole country were drowning in poverty.
The American have their hands dirty in the history of Chile. In their zest to crumple a socialist government in Chile, they created a monster by the name of General Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte. As we are aware, the Chilean outlook at Pinochet can be said as divided. Some look at him as saviour of democracy while others look at him as despot.
Over in Indo China, Pol Pot is listed as a dictator. This situation is again messed up by the intervention of superpowers, making fellow citizens with different ideologies fight against their fellow brothers thinking what they believed to be right.
We all know about Saddam Hussein and his ability to control the various ethnicities within his country through sheer intimidation and scare tactics. Whatever said and done, his removal by US had unleashed wave over wave of upheavals and civil war.
Robert Mugabe, in spite of all the negative publicity about him in the world arena, goes on with life even after forceful seizure of white man property in Zimbabwe.
At the end of the book, I realise that the longer a leader stays in power, the greater the desire is for him to cling on to power. To satisfy one fragment of the society, the other would retaliate and mayhem will ensue. It is impossible to satisfy everybody every time. And there is always a group of people who would benefit when we fight. After reading this book, one would not see their leaders in the same light again. Over the ages, it is always the same story. All in the name power, ideology and self interests, man indulge in atrocities.
Real-Life Accounts of History's worst tyrants
Diane Low (2009)
Most leaders try to create an enemy for them to stay as long as they can. Unfortunately the truth of these can only be ascertained in hindsight.
Save for a few leaders who are genuinely sick in the head, most of the dictators are generally people who never really shined in their early part of their careers.
This book gives a good review of some of the leaders that we have heard of but never really had the chance to learn in depth.
Emperor Caligula was rated as the most heinous dictator of all time in 'History Channel'. His unconventional childhood compounded by an episode of 'brain fever' seem to explain the extreme bloodshed, deviant sexual debauchery and grandeur that reigned during the time of his power.
Genghiz Khan who is often praised for his conquering prowess is also infamous for his inhumane treatment of his subjects and foes. He not only killed his enemies but their descendants too. As he and his men treat water as something very divine, they make it a point not to waste it on something as meaningless as bathing. Hence, their extreme body odour is another of their secret weapon to defeat their enemies! Towards the end of his life, he tried to become religious but it may be more towards achieving immortality!
Ivan the terrible, the person who established the Romanov dynasty was the first Czar of Russia. Even though he was brought up as an orthodox Christian, he still believed in his pagan beliefs. While the rest of Europe was embracing Renaissance, he kept Russia in dark ages with killing, witch hunt and savagery.
Josef Stalin, a cobbler's son dropped out of seminary school after being captivated by Darwin and Marx writings. Starting as an average party worker who never really shined, he steamrolled himself to great heights to establish the Gulag and kill over 40 million people.
We all know about Adolf Hitler and his antics that brought the whole world to its knees. What most people do not know is his perverted sexual preferences, his syphilitic infection from a Jewish sex worker and his affair with his niece who died a mysterious death.
Mao Zedong is another master planner and a perfectionist poet who brought short lived prosperity to a crumbling nation. His reign was, however, marred by widespread famine which killed over 30 million and indoctrination of generation to become non-thinking zombies. Many valuable ancient history was lost in his book burning exercise of Cultural Revolution.
In the Central African Republic, there was a mad dictator in the 1970s with had a fetish with Napoleon Bonaparte and everything French. The country which started as a slave nation in a fabled kingdom became sought after when diamonds were found there. The dictator, declared himself as Emperor Bokassa I spent a third of the country's national budget for his coronation. During his reign he amassed diamond profits, blurred the demarcation between his bank account and that of the country's. He is said to have dined on human flesh, had 17 wives and 50 children. He was exiled but later lived on his earnings like a king.
Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania started life as a stammering communist who played an important role in the post WW2 Soviet controlled Romania. He gain limelight for standing against the Russian intervention. The Western bloc played devils' advocate to create disharmony in Romania. As he became the President, he and his wife also developed a sense of grandeur and paranoia. While the whole country was immersed in poverty, he and his family were drowning in luxury and megalomania!
Idi Amin was literally a mad man on a cocktail of anti psychotic medication. His gung ho way of 'overkilling' in a situation earned him a reputation as an effective problem solver. This trait eventually earned him the post of President. This 'Last King of Scotland' (due to his fetish with everything Scottish) was sort of an international joke. He made preposterous anti Jewish and anti Western statements. He embraced Islam after a meeting with his good friend, Moammar Gaddafi of Libya. Whilst the economy was going down the drain, he continued with his obscenely lavish lifestyle. His harem of ladies, the fleet of wives, his indulgence in cannibalism and outlandish behaviours were the reason for his downfall.
The poorest nation on the planet, the voodoo land, Haiti, has always been unlucky with its leaders. Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, a soft spoken doctor, hold the reputation of being able to siphon off millions from US when the threat of communism was looming in Central America. He rigged the election and used US money for him own coffers whilst the whole country were drowning in poverty.
The American have their hands dirty in the history of Chile. In their zest to crumple a socialist government in Chile, they created a monster by the name of General Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte. As we are aware, the Chilean outlook at Pinochet can be said as divided. Some look at him as saviour of democracy while others look at him as despot.
Over in Indo China, Pol Pot is listed as a dictator. This situation is again messed up by the intervention of superpowers, making fellow citizens with different ideologies fight against their fellow brothers thinking what they believed to be right.
We all know about Saddam Hussein and his ability to control the various ethnicities within his country through sheer intimidation and scare tactics. Whatever said and done, his removal by US had unleashed wave over wave of upheavals and civil war.
Robert Mugabe, in spite of all the negative publicity about him in the world arena, goes on with life even after forceful seizure of white man property in Zimbabwe.
At the end of the book, I realise that the longer a leader stays in power, the greater the desire is for him to cling on to power. To satisfy one fragment of the society, the other would retaliate and mayhem will ensue. It is impossible to satisfy everybody every time. And there is always a group of people who would benefit when we fight. After reading this book, one would not see their leaders in the same light again. Over the ages, it is always the same story. All in the name power, ideology and self interests, man indulge in atrocities.
