The Nature of Despotism: From Caligula to Mugabe, the Making of Tyrants

by Tom Ambrose

"What differentiates a strong leader from a cruel despot? In The Nature of Despotism, Tom Ambrose poses this critical question, exploring the motivation of some of the most notorious despots throughout the centuries and uncovering the unsettling truth behind their extreme behaviour."

"The book investigates the many facets of despotism, including the effect of a difficult, often violent childhood on the making of a despot; the manipulation and oppression of the masses which allows the despot to establish an unquestioning following; the nature of the 'enlightened despot' who, at the time of the Renaissance, brought reform and culture while still demanding total obedience; and the emergence of despotic groups such as the Sicilian Mafia in 18th century Italy and its development in the United States in the 20th century." The book covers the lives and careers of such despots as Nero, Genghis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Robespierre, Stalin, Hitler, Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-Il. With chapters on the use of ceremony and scapegoats to distract their people, the importance of building a personality cult, the pretension to, and control of, culture and the myth of efficiency, The Nature of Despotism is an in-depth study of what it is that makes a tyrant and offers predictions for the future of despotism in a world where international bodies increasingly intervene in a country's affairs.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2008

Reviews

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, well-documented book. I especially liked how the author compared and contrasted all of the despots mentioned here (only notoriously missing, perhaps, is Fidel Castro), highlighting their stunning similarities across time and space. Human nature, folks. Absolute power corrupts absolutely...

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The real title of this book should be "Why Hiter, Stalin, and Hussein Were Tyrants...Probably...I Mean There Is Some Correlation, So It Must Be True, Right?" I get the sense that the author was attempting to stumble onto something to explain "The Making of Tyrants" but it never really materialized.

First premise: it's because they all had shitty childhoods - like this guy, and this guy, oh, and that guy, but here's also some other guys who didn't have shitty childhoods who became tyrants...oh, also I'm not going to mention how the vast majority of people with shitty childhoods didn't become tyrants, so...

Second premise: it's because they all had egos and were overcompensating - well, except for this guy who actually really was an accomplished musician, and a bunch of other guys were actually phenomenally intelligent...but, like we hate them, right? So, we have to mock them somehow, right?

Third Premise: they were all insane, yah, that's it...well, except after I explain that I'll talk about how they actually probably weren't, but I'll still go on the premise that they were probably all insane.

Oh, and they need a bunch of sycophants, but I'm not going to go into how they accumulate said 'phants...it's probably charisma or something, yah that's it...probably...you know, maybe it isn't...I mean....it could be...

The last chapters is titled "Exceptions That Prove The Rule" which turns out to be about a female tyrant...who was female...with no mention about her childhood, her overcompensating, or her sanity...just that she was female...ooooooo....

I may sound like I'm being harsh, but it's really not that much of an in-depth study and it's full of half-baked ideas that only really apply to some tyrants some of the time and doesn't explain how people who were raised incredibly similarly did not go on to become tyrants. Also, I get a very strong impression that the author feels that we should be feeling pity for these people. That, because of their upbringing, they had no choice and are just what we made them, so, suck it up and try to survive.

Fun Fact: Many mentions are made about how North Korea is going to implode any day under Kim Jong-Ill (this was published in 2008)...any day now...just watch...it's probably being toppled as we speak...

[stupidus · Rating 3 out of 5]

If researched accurately then pretty much proves the point that if you are treated like shit, you tend to treat people like shit.

These people turn from victims to full-fledged monsters because we let them. If you are never really welcomed to join in on the fun, you will learn to do without it. And in time you will learn to have fun in your own special kinda way...

I think we all know this.

We just love calling people monsters and loonies because we don't like to admit that we helped to create them in the first place.


Tisk, tisk.

[Midgetbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Shows how the majority of despots, no matter what country, political type or time lived in, all shared a similar sets of traits and methods of control. Goes into the need for a personality cult of some type, the desire to impose their cultural tastes on the people regardless of merit, type of upbringing and so on. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in history or politics.

[Steven]

Good overview of some really BAD people. Especially liked the info on Chinese emperor Qi. Under his rule if someone committed a crime, he not only killed the perpetrator and his family, but his entire village! Not much need for a police force huh.