Tyrants: the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators (06 Edition)

< p> Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea's Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam's or Kim Jong-il's level of international attention. < /p> < p> In this fascinating, eye-opening read, < i> New York Times< /i> bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators — and the governments they head — currently in power: exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. < i> Tyrants< /i> also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies. < /p> < p> Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, < i> Tyrants< /i> will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present — and pose challenging questions about America's role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future. < /p> < p> The Tyrant Hall of Shame includes: < /p> < ul> < li> Kim Jong-il/North Korea< /li> < li> Hu Jintao/China< /li> < li> Seyed Ali Khamenei/Iran< /li> < li> King Abdullah/Saudi Arabia < /li> < li> Muammar al-Qaddafi/Libya< /li> < li> Omar al-Bashir/Sudan< /li> < li> IslamKarimov/Uzbekistan< /li> < li> Saparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan < /li> < li> Fidel Castro/Cuba< /li> < /ul>

Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea's Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam's or Kim Jong-il's level of international attention.

In this fascinating, eye-opening read, New York Times bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators — and the governments they head — currently in power: exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. Tyrants also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies.

Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, Tyrants will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present — and pose challenging questions about America's role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future.

The Tyrant Hall of Shame includes:

• Kim Jong-il/North Korea
• Hu Jintao/China
• Seyed Ali Khamenei/Iran
• King Abdullah/Saudi Arabia
• Muammar al-Qaddafi/Libya
• Omar al-Bashir/Sudan
• Islam Karimov/Uzbekistan
• Saparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan
• Fidel Castro/Cuba

From Kim Jong-Il to Gaddafi, the bestselling author of "The People's Almanac" surveys the crimes and characters of today's most brutal dictators. Photos throughout.

David Wallechinsky is the bestselling coauthor of The Book of Lists and The People's Almanac, and the author of The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics and The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics. Also a contributing editor to Parade magazine, he divides his time between Santa Monica, California, and Provence, France.