Synopsis
"A book of great importance; it surpasses all others in breadth and depth."—Commentary
The New York Times Sunday Book Review - Steven Merritt Miner
Beginning in 1992 with the publication of Alan Bullock's vast dual biography, Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives, the comparative approach has returned in force. Now Richard Overy, best known for his fine histories of World War II and Nazi Germany, has weighed in with The Dictators, the most comprehensive, up-to-date and cogently argued comparison yet published. His approach is systemic rather than biographical: based on a prodigious reading of the scholarly literature, he compares and contrasts key features of the two regimes. The result is a richly insightful study (though one that, to be sure, demands a fairly high level of prior knowledge on the part of the reader).