{"product_id":"big-caesars-and-little-caesars","title":"Big Caesars and Little Caesars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eBig Caesars and Little Caesars\u003c\/i\u003e by Ferdinand Mount is an enlightening and provocative examination of the allure and peril of authoritarian leadership throughout history. From the grand ambitions of Julius Caesar to the modern idiosyncrasies of political figures like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, this book delves deeply into the mechanisms and motivations that drive strongmen to seize control and the inevitable consequences of their actions.\n\nA WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWho said that dictatorship was dead? The world today is full of Strong Men and their imitators. Caesarism is alive and well. Yet in modern times, it’s become a strangely neglected subject. Ferdinand Mount opens up a fascinating exploration of how and why Caesars seize power and why they fall.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"Fast paced and impassioned\" -- Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"Wonderfully wry\" -- The Guardian\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"...a delight\" -- Sunday Times\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\"Delicious work, beautifully and acerbically written\" -- Wall Street Journal\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a comforting illusion shared by historians and political commentators, from Fukuyama back to Macaulay, Mill, and Marx, that history progresses in a nice straight line towards liberal democracy or socialism, despite the odd hiccup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn reality, every democracy, however sophisticated or stable it may look, has been attacked or actually destroyed by a would-be Caesar, from Ancient Greece to the present day. Marx was wrong. This Caesarism is not an absurd throwback, it is an ever-present danger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere are Big Caesars who set out to achieve total social control and Little Caesars who merely want to run an agreeable kleptocracy without opposition: from Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell through Napoleon and Bolivar, to Mussolini, Salazar, De Gaulle and Trump. The saga of Boris Johnson and Brexit frequently crops up in the author's narrative as a vivid, if Lilliputian, instance of the same phenomenon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMount's work is both a historical and contemporary analysis, canvassing a wide range of would-be Caesars who have left their mark on history. He provides a detailed account of the ambitious forces behind these figures, revealing a timeless yearning for power that persists across centuries and continents. His narrative seamlessly integrates the ancient with the modern, demonstrating that the spectre of Caesarism is a perpetual threat to democratic institutions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe final part of \u003ci\u003eBig Caesars and Little Caesars\u003c\/i\u003e describes how and why would-be Caesars come to grief, from the Gunpowder Plot to Trump’s march on the Capitol and the ejection of Boris Johnson by his own MPs. Mount concludes with a defence of the grubby glories of parliamentary politics and a thought-provoking roadmap of the way back to constitutional government.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book is an essential read for anyone interested in political science, history, or the modern global political landscape. Ferdinand Mount's writing is a deft blend of insightful critique, historical narrative, and wry commentary, making \u003ci\u003eBig Caesars and Little Caesars\u003c\/i\u003e a compelling and informative read that resonates with the political realities of today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45706133799148,"sku":"9781399409728","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781399409728.jpg?v=1725883658","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/products\/big-caesars-and-little-caesars","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}