Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
Dictators
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I have rarely read a whole, in-depth book on any historical figure -- so many of the books, if not the characters themselves, are dry as sawdust! -- but I've greatly enjoyed reading chapters on them in collected-tales type of books. Some of them have left me determined to read a whole book on this or that person, like the utterly delightful The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled, 100 Great Kings, Queens And Rulers Of The World, and The Little Book of Loony Dictators. But I keep not getting around to it in most cases. I did read The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun, which was a biography sort of incidentally folded into the author's central argument that Attila was assassinated. Oh, and The File on the Tsar. Oh! And A State of Blood: The Inside Story of Idi Amin. I think they all rated around 3 stars with me.I guess it also depends on how you define "dictator." If by that word you mean "sole ruler who did some really questionable things," that's almost everyone who was ever in charge of a country, back before they had parliaments and senators and junk like that. But a lot of people don't call someone a dictator unless he's a bizarro who overstepped his role in a democracy or constitutional monarchy or something and then got a zillion people killed or deported or something. Even then the person could turn out good, bad, or really, really mixed. Is only Joe Stalin a dictator in his country, or would that also describe the much-less-criminal Vladimir Putin? Would you call homicidal Ivan the Terrible a dictator, or drunken-idiot-getting-people-killed Peter The Great, or wimpoid Nicholas II who stood back and let thousands of his subjects die pointlessly on the Eastern Front of the Great War -- or would you count all three? What about Louis XIV, who deported all the Huguenots and essentially laid the foundation for the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror?
Fishface wrote: "I have rarely read a whole, in-depth book on any historical figure -- so many of the books, if not the characters themselves, are dry as sawdust! -- but I've greatly enjoyed reading chapters on the..."The Little Book of Loony Dictators by Karl Shaw sounds very interesting.
Julie wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I have rarely read a whole, in-depth book on any historical figure -- so many of the books, if not the characters themselves, are dry as sawdust! -- but I've greatly enjoyed readin..."It's the kind of book you can flip through to put a smile in your day. The new edition is marked "Now With Extra Kim!"
Would count anyone who tyrannised their country a dictator.
What about a non-country kind of dictator, like Warren Jeffs or Jim Jones?
Fishface wrote: "What about a non-country kind of dictator, like Warren Jeffs or Jim Jones?"Like a religious cult leader? I have read a few books on cult leaders or people caught up in cults. I think that deserves a separate category! I remember reading one on Sri .chimnoy written by his daughter. There was also a memorable one about Mother Teresa written by an ex nun who was a sister of charity that left the order.
I think a book of short bios would be easier to read than an indepth one for me. So Little Book of loony dictators it is...
I cannot recommend The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled or 100 Great Kings, Queens And Rulers Of The World too strongly. The The Little Book of Loony Dictators is a book of anecdotes more than biographies. The other two are chapter-length biographies, but not all of them are dictators. So you make the call.
Selina wrote: "Ok. I have Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators on request."Now that sounds like an intriguing subject!
Fishface wrote: "Selina wrote: "Ok. I have Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators on request."Now that sounds like an intriguing subject!"
Have picked up this book and also Dastardly Dictators, Rulers & Other Loony Leaders by barmy biogs
Started reading Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators but don't think I will finish...has 20 dictators, I don't think I can stomach it, half of them I don't know and don't want to know.Of the ones I've read, Stalin's daughter had the most interesting life, she wrote three memoirs. Her mother committed suicide but she didn't know until 10 years later. She escaped to the States and seems to have some conscience. The rest of the children grew up to be brats or under their father's spell, or didn't have a very long life....
Selina wrote: "Started reading Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators but don't think I will finish...has 20 dictators, I don't think I can stomach it, half of t..."I think I would read something about Stalin's daughter. I wonder if there are any bios on Lenin's children.
Found it on Goodreads - Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva . See if you can find a copy Julie.
I wonder what it did to her when she learned about her mother's suicide. Was it more "That explains a great deal" or was she just devastated all over again?
Am planning on reading her memoir later so will let you know. The library has a copy...
National elections are coming up and have no idea who to vote for. Maybe just not vote? Dictators seem to get in power despite who you vote or don't vote for it seems.
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I know how you feel. They say every vote counts but in the last election I did not feel that way. I hope you make a decision so at least you can feel like you didn't just sit back and let things happen.
What are the issues that you are having in your country, Selina. Sorry to say, I am not up on that.
Well theres lots of issues but main issue seems to be the previous governments allowed all these immigrants in and then didnt give them anywhere to live, so now we have a huge housing crisis. And all the nzers that already here most of them left the country to find jobs elsewhere. Which seems silly when you think about it. I mean, I dont really have anywhere else to live. Thankfully I have a room in my parent house but I imagine that its very hard to be able to afford your own place here unless youve come from a foreign country with a better exchange rate. Or sold what you already have.
Now that's a problem several countries in Europe are struggling with right now, too. Is there no place that WANTS immigrants? The USA does, badly, but to listen to "45" mouth off about it, you'd think nobody was welcome here!
Now have Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva but its like 600 pages. Wonder how long it will take me to get through it.
Now finished Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva. by Rosemary Sullivan. Took me about three weeks. Thoughts...This was a very detailed account of the life of Stalin's Daughter, known as Svetlana Ailluyeva or Lana Peters in US. She defected to the US after her father, Stalin died. She had many many relationships, was married about three times and had three children to three different fathers. She left two children behind in Russia and had the third in US when she was in her forties. All ended in divorce.
She was always moving from place to place but made her living as a writer, the publishers advanced her a fortune to publish her memoir. She wrote three memoirs of her life and was forever being hounded for being Stalin's daughter which didn't make her popular in both countries, or if it did earn her favour it was a two edged sword. Because of her name and supposed fortune, people took advantage.
This biography was an interesting read and the author did a good job of chronicling her life. She didn't go into detail about all the evil things Stalin did (just exiled her boyfriend, denounced and killed off her relatives, stood by while her mother killed herself) but then it wasn't going to be a book about him. But I think to understand the full horror and heartache of it maybe you need to read Svetlana's own memoirs. It seems like she still had a lot of faith to persevere despite her hand in life. Her american daughter somehow survived all this. She changed her name though.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
Books mentioned in this topic
Hello Dubai: Skiing, Sand and Shopping in the World's Weirdest City (other topics)Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva (other topics)
Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva (other topics)
Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva (other topics)
Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators (other topics)
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eg Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Nero, Napoleon etc.
My brother has a copy of Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang but it's quite thick and I'm not that keen to read it.
Am currently reading a bio called Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and apparently he (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) was in a plot to assassinate Hitler, but he was killed. (not sure if he really was or was just accused of it, I haven't got that far yet) I don't really know a lot about Hitler having never read a biography about him. But he's so famous that maybe I should just have some background knowledge. There's always wikipedia I guess.
Its just I am not the kind of reader who wants to spend a lot of time reading about killers and murderers really. But others on here do, so, what have you found?