American Conservative University

How to Be a Dictator by Frank Dikötter

2020-02-08

How to Be a Dictator by Frank Dikötter https://youtu.be/LdH2W_oqI4s The Cato Institute Featuring the author Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities, University of Hong Kong, and Author, Mao’s Great Famine. In his forthcoming book How to Be a Dictator, Frank Dikötter examines the cults and propaganda surrounding twentieth-century dictators, from Hitler and Stalin to Mao Zedong and Kim II Sung. These men were the founders of modern dictatorships, and they learned from each other and from history to build their regim...

How to Be a Dictator by Frank Dikötter

https://youtu.be/LdH2W_oqI4s

The Cato Institute

Featuring the author Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities, University of Hong Kong, and Author, Mao’s Great Famine. In his forthcoming book How to Be a Dictator, Frank Dikötter examines the cults and propaganda surrounding twentieth-century dictators, from Hitler and Stalin to Mao Zedong and Kim II Sung. These men were the founders of modern dictatorships, and they learned from each other and from history to build their regimes and maintain their public images. Their dictatorships, in turn, have influenced leaders in the 21st century, including Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Learn more: https://www.cato.org/events/how-to-be... Want to find the Cato Institute elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CatoInstitute/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/CatoInstitute Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/CatoInstitute/

About the book-

From the Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author of Mao's Great Famine, a sweeping and timely study of twentieth-century dictators and the development of the modern cult of personality.

No dictator can rule through fear and violence alone. Naked power can be grabbed and held temporarily, but it never suffices in the long term. In the twentieth century, as new technologies allowed leaders to place their image and voice directly into their citizens' homes, a new phenomenon appeared where dictators exploited the cult of personality to achieve the illusion of popular approval without ever having to resort to elections.

In How to Be a Dictator, Frank Dikötter examines the cults and propaganda surrounding twentieth-century dictators, from Hitler and Stalin to Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung. These men were the founders of modern dictatorships, and they learned from each other and from history to build their regimes and maintain their public images. Their dictatorships, in turn, have influenced leaders in the twenty-first century, including Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Using a breadth of archival research and his characteristic in-depth analysis, Dikötter offers a stunning portrait of dictatorship, a guide to the cult of personality, and a map for exposing the lies dictators tell to build and maintain their regimes.

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