Gripping . . . essential and captivating' BRADLEY HOPE 'A sparkling read full of original
observations and captivating insights' KATJA HOYER 'Utterly compelling . . . jaw-dropping'
BRIAN KLAAS 'Fascinating wide-ranging . . . highly-entertaining' PETER GEOGHEGAN Strongmen
are rising. Democracies are faltering. How does tyranny end? Tyrants project invincibility
but all of them fall. This is because they face critical weaknesses that can form a fatal trap.
Whether it's their inner circle turning against them or resentment of elites in the military
the masses alienated by cronyism or revolutionaries plotting in exile tyrants always have more
enemies than friends. And when they fall tyrants don't quietly retire - they face exile prison
or death. What happens in the aftermath can change the fate of a nation. Meeting with coup
leaders dissidents and soldiers political scientist Marcel Dirsus draws on extraordinary
interviews to examine the workings and malfunctions of tyrants. We hear from a revolutionary
(codename 'Satan') who risked Stasi capture to undermine an oppressive regime an unapologetic
former leader of a Burundian rebel group which carried out a massacre and an American-Gambian
activist who plotted to liberate his homeland on breaks during his construction job. But
understanding dictators isn't enough. How Tyrants Fall is the gripping deeply researched
blueprint for how to bring them down.
