Strongmen

Mussolini to the Present

By: Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Narrated by: Chloe Cannon

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the "strongman" playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin. In Strongmen, she lays bare the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future.

For ours is the age of authoritarian rulers: self-proclaimed saviors of the nation who evade accountability while robbing their people of truth, treasure, and the protections of democracy. They promise law and order, then legitimize lawbreaking by financial, sexual, and other predators. They use propaganda, corruption, and violence to stay in power.

Vladimir Putin and Mobutu Sese Seko's kleptocracies, Benito Mussolini and Muammar Gaddafi's systems of sexual exploitation, and Silvio Berlusconi and Donald Trump's relentless misinformation: all show how authoritarian rule, far from ensuring stability, is marked by destructive chaos.

Recounting the acts of solidarity and dignity that have undone strongmen over the past 100 years, Ben-Ghiat makes vividly clear that only by seeing the strongman for what he is - and by valuing one another as he is unable to do - can we stop him, now and in the future.

©2020 Ruth Ben-Ghiat (P)2020 Kalorama

Fascinating through lines

Well researched, including interviews with victims. These dictators must be on a chat group or something because they seem to borrow from each other. But this is good because we can learn from previous scenarios. Book was an informative but easy listen. Well done!

Great analysis, vision. Wrong reader

I’ve heard the author speak. She’s relaxed, thoughtful, clear, confident. The reader was wrong— she was snide, snarky, sarcastic. It distracted from the excellent material.

That said, a strong recommendation. A clear synthesis tying every western strongman in the last 80 years together in a common structure, from Mussolini to Trump.

The similar character and personality of all strongmen/dictators.

I like the comparisons between the many dictators discussed in this book.However sometimes I got a little confused listening on Audible.

the parallels to Trump

Well done, illustrated the parallels between all dictators and fascist leaders. I would recommend this book to everyone that wants to understand why and how a democratic society can slip into a fascist / dictatorship.

Self serving men who want power.

Excellent read, men who want power at any cost. Repeat behaviors that aid in taking over a country.