Mussolini in Italy. Hitler in Germany. Franco in Spain. These men, and their style of government, both individually and collectively, have had a profound and lasting effect on global politics in this century.

Equipped with an official ideology and a charismatic leader, dictatorship contested democracy throughout the twentieth century, first in the form of fascist, and later communist and military, regimes. Examining their origins, evolution, and political and social roles, Paul Brooker here provides a sweeping canvas of dictatorships in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. By distinguishing between the different manifestations of dictatorship—from the mass-murdering reign of Hitler to the benevolent dictatorships of such figures as Crdenas in Mexico and Atatrk in Turkey, this work presents a clear and comprehensive overview of this often violent, sometimes paternalistic, always fascinating form of government.