Mussolini in Italy, Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain, Castro, Suharto, Peron, Kuomintang, Ne Win, Nkrumah, Toure, Primo de Rivera... These men and their style of government, both individually and collectively, have had a profound and lasting effect on global politics in this century.

Ideological one-party states were a modernized form of dictatorship "invented" early in the twentieth century. Equipped with an official ideology and a charismatic leader, dictatorships 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 dictatorships, from the mass-murdering regime of Hitler to the "benevolent dictatorships" of such figures as Cardenas in Mexico and Ataturk in Turkey, this work presents a clear and comprehensive overview of this often violent, sometimes paternalistic, always fascinating form of government.