Dictators : The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century | Frank Dikötter | Bloomsbury Publishing PL

Eight 'dictators' were covered in Frank Dikötter's book published in Jun 2020: Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Mengisto and Duvalier.  The first six, I read about them in History class, the last two were unfamiliar to me.

I wonder if these eight considered themselves 'dictators' or if they genuinely thought they were leading their countries to the best they themselves could, and the utopia that they envisioned for their countries.  All eight were born and grew up in turmultous times, that period where it seemed like most countries in the world were in a nose-dive, searching for that magical something that would propel their countries out of their misery into a brighter future they perhaps thought they were charging towards.

Dikötter describes the eight as building cults of personalty through "carefully choregraphed parades to...censorship", which do seem terrifying.  Yet today, nation-states continue to have carefully choregraphed parades on their Independence day or National day.  Undeniably, the creation of such parades and participation in them help instill a sense of national pride, and sense of belonging for citizens of countries, whether their governments are considered democratic or authoritarian.