Dictator Literature

‘Daniel Kalder has slogged his way through the 20th century’s “Krakatoa-like eruption of despotic verbiage” so you don’t have to… Kalder’s dispatches from “the transnational empire of ultra-boredom” are not only very funny, they also form a quirky, pacey guide to recent world history.’

* Sunday Times, Books of the Year *

‘Full of…wonders, and startling individual facts… An overwhelmingly powerful reminder of 20^th-century misrule, and of just how delusional human beings can be – especially if they’re literate.’

* Telegraph *

‘This wonderfully entertaining book is a cautionary tale about how societies are easily wooed by foolish demagogues spouting gibberish.’

* The Times, Books of the Year *

‘I enjoyed this book a great deal…it’s actually a rather snappy read.’

* Will Self, Guardian *

‘Hugely compelling…Like coming across a planet-sized car crash, with hundreds of millions snarled up in the wreckage: you can’t look away. Kalder has really dug deep into the minds of these infernal texts’ creators, and thus delivers some truly enlightening insights.’

* Irish Independent *

‘Daniel Kalder…deserves a medal…Dictator Literature is a great book... An insightful book, but also a funny one.'

* The Times *

‘Very funny… After reading Dictator Literature you will never look at books with such a benevolent eye again.’

* Spectator *

‘A engaging, brisk, and morbidly humorous haul of the lives and literary pretensions of the murderous wingnuts who defined a century.’

* Irish Times *

‘Kalder's book is an informative, lively and often hilarious account of some of the worst authors who ever lived, doubling as a history of the terrible ideologies that marred the last century. Some execrable books have come out of communism and fascism, but Dictator Literature is certainly not one of them.’

* Catholic Herald *

‘A fascinating study…partly an enjoyable romp but mostly a sombre sidelong-glance history of 20^th-century totalitarianism.’

* Sunday Telegraph *

‘Brisk, and full of antic fun.’

* New Statesman *

‘Highly readable.’

* Herald *

‘A mesmerizing study of books by despots great and small, from the familiar to the largely unknown.’

* Washington Post *

‘Kalder is our cheeky and irreverent guide to the (generally aggressively tedious) prose by history’s despots.’

* Tatler *

‘This is about the most discomforting book I’ve read in the past year. Never mind Trump and never mind Twitter: Kalder demonstrates that words themselves, and the escapist spells we weave with them, are our riskiest civic gift.’

-- Simon Ings, author of Stalin and the Scientists

‘A compelling examination of why bad minds create bad writing, and therefore a valuable read for anyone interested in literature – or the world, in fact. Kalder’s dry humour makes Dictator Literature a fun tour de force through the mad history of the 20th century and the present.’

-- Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed