Real Dictators
Book Recommendations

Real Dictators

Real Dictators is the award-winning podcast that explores the hidden lives of history's tyrants. Hosted by Paul McGann, with contributions from eyewitnesses and expert historians. New episodes available a week early for Noiser+ subscribers. You'll also get ad-free listening, early access and excl...

Episodes 162
Books 149
Visit Official Site

Recently mentioned

Latest Recommendations

A Short History of Ancient Rome cover

A Short History of Ancient Rome

Pascal Hughes

Mentioned 6 months ago

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Part 3: A Coronation for the Ages

The hosts suggested it as a Christmas gift, noting it was readily available in bookstores.

Get all of these shows and more early and adfree on Noiser Plus. And if you're still on the hunt for Christmas presents, then why not grab a copy of A Short History of Ancient Rome, available in all good bookshops.

Buy on Amazon
Ogre Castle (After the Spell Wars Book 1) cover

Ogre Castle (After the Spell Wars Book 1)

Robert E. Vardeman

Mentioned 6 months ago

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Part 2: The Power Grab, the Châteaux and the Missing Daughter

Marie-France Bocassa, one of Bokassa's recognized children, wrote this memoir which painted a portrait of her father as a strict disciplinarian with high standards for his children. She wrote about the challenges the children faced due to their father having multiple wives, which led to difficult relationships with some stepmothers.

One of the things that Marie-France Bocassa writes about in her memoir is that one of the challenges that those kids faced was that their father had multiple wives and that the relationships among the children and some of these wives were not always easy and that some of those stepmothers could be, in some cases, much more brutal than the father.

Buy on Amazon
A Christmas Carol: The Original 1843 Edition (Charles Dickens Classics) cover

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

Mentioned 7 months ago

Introducing: Charles Dickens Ghost Stories - A Christmas Carol

The narrator described it as a newly released ghost story that had sold out its first print run within days and would become a lasting festive tradition.

Will these new things last, he wondered? As is the new book that Dickens himself has just published. His gaze is drawn to a copy lying on the mantelpiece. It's a ghost story.

Buy on Amazon
1984 cover

1984

George Orwell

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 9: Down With Fidel!

The narrator recalled being exposed to Orwell's novel 1984 while studying in the USSR, drawing a parallel between its themes and the reality in Cuba.

He's quickly exposed to all kinds of new ideas, including George Orwell's 1984. We all love perestroika. You understand that? At the end of the tunnel, the light that you see is the real life or future.

Buy on Amazon
The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times cover

The Cubans

Anthony DePalma

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 9: Down With Fidel!

The book was identified as a chronicle of Cuba's special period, authored by journalist Anthony De Palma.

Journalist Anthony De Palma is the author of The Cubans, Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times, a chronicle of the special period.

Buy on Amazon
The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980 (A Wild Year in Miami's History) cover

The Year of Dangerous Days

Nicholas Griffin

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 8: Miami Vice

The book was cited as the work of Nicholas Griffin, a longtime Miami resident, that chronicles the riots, refugees and cocainefilled atmosphere of Miami in 1980.

Nicholas Griffin is a longtime Miami resident and the author of The Year of Dangerous Days, Riots, Refugees and Cocaine in Miami 1980.

Buy on Amazon
Moscow and Havana 1917 to the Present: An Enduring Friendship in an Ever-Changing Global Context (Bloomsbury Studies on Cuba, 11) cover

Moscow and Havana 1917 to the Present

Mervyn J. Bain

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 6: The Cuban Missile Crisis

The podcast identified Mervyn Bain as the author of this book, noting his academic affiliation and linking the work to the historical relationship between the Soviet Union and Cuba.

Professor Mervyn Bain of the University of Aberdeen is the author of Moscow and Havana, 1917 to the present.

Buy on Amazon
The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times cover

The Man Who Invented Fidel

Anthony DePalma

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 3: The Mountain Guerrillas

The transcript noted that Anthony de Palma authored The Man Who Invented Fidel, a book recounting Herbert Matthews' encounter with Fidel Castro.

Anthony de Palma is the author of The Man Who Invented Fidel. A book about Matthews' encounter with Castro.

Buy on Amazon
Capital: Volume I (Das Kapital series Book 1) cover

Capital

Karl Marx

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 2: Shipwrecked in the Swamps

The host noted that Castro had marginalia in Marx's Capital, indicating he was wrestling with its concepts.

Among the books Nati sends him are the works of Engels, Marx, and Lenin. It's the first time that Castro meaningfully engages with farleft thought.

Buy on Amazon
Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean cover

Red Heat

Alex Von Tunzelmann

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 1: Rise of ‘The Crazy One’

Alex von Tunzelmann was mentioned as the author of Red Heat, Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean.

Alex von Tunselmann is the author of Red Heat, Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean.

Buy on Amazon
The Myth of José Martí: Conflicting Nationalisms in Early Twentieth-Century Cuba (Envisioning Cuba) cover

The Myth of José Martí

Lillian Guerra

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 1: Rise of ‘The Crazy One’

The podcast identified Lillian Guerra as the author of The Myth of Jos Mart while noting her role as a professor of Cuban and Caribbean history.

Lillian Guerra is professor of Cuban and Caribbean history at the University of Florida and the author of The Myth of Jos Mart.

Buy on Amazon
Young Castro: The Making of a Revolutionary cover

Young Castro

Jonathan M. Hansen

Mentioned 1 year ago

Fidel Castro Part 1: Rise of ‘The Crazy One’

Jonathan Hanson was introduced as the senior lecturer at Harvard University and author of Young Castro, The Making of a Revolutionary.

Jonathan Hanson is senior lecturer at Harvard University, and the author of Young Castro, The Making of a Revolutionary.

Buy on Amazon

Most Recommended

The Last Night on the Titanic: Unsinkable Drinking, Dining, and Style Cover

Veronica Hinke

The Last Night on the Titanic

Unsinkable Drinking, Dining, and Style

Veronica Hinckley was also credited with writing Unsinkable Drinking, Dining and Style.

"

Veronica Hinckley is the author of The Last Night on the Titanic, Unsinkable Drinking, Dining and Style.

— Episode: Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - E...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - Episode 1

Veronica Hinckley was also credited with writing Unsinkable Drinking, Dining and Style.

"

Veronica Hinckley is the author of The Last Night on the Titanic, Unsinkable Drinking, Dining and Style.

Don't Panic: The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress Cover

Jerome M. Chertkoff

Don't Panic

The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress

Jerome Chertkoff's book Don't Panic! The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress was referenced.

"

Jerome Chertkoff is Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Indiana. His books include Don't Panic! The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress.

— Episode: Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - E...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - Episode 1

Jerome Chertkoff's book Don't Panic! The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress was referenced.

"

Jerome Chertkoff is Professor Emeritus of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Indiana. His books include Don't Panic! The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress.

Sherlock Holmes Complete Short Stories Cover

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes Complete Short Stories

The hosts announced a new series where the host, HughBonneville, would read selections of the classic Sherlock Holmes short stories each week.

"

I'm Hugh Bonneville. Join me every Thursday for Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. I'll be reading a selection of the supersleuth's most baffling cases, all brought to life in their original, masterful fo...

— Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 7: Break for the B...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 7: Break for the Border…

The hosts announced a new series where the host, HughBonneville, would read selections of the classic Sherlock Holmes short stories each week.

"

I'm Hugh Bonneville. Join me every Thursday for Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. I'll be reading a selection of the supersleuth's most baffling cases, all brought to life in their original, masterful form.

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. Search for Sherlock Holmes Short Stories wherever you get your podcasts.

The Life of Benito Mussolini Cover

Margherita G Sarfatti

The Life of Benito Mussolini

The episode noted that the book was an international bestseller written by Mussolini's mistress and titled The Life of Benito Mussolini.

"

Aided no end by the international bestseller written by his mistress Sarfati, The Life of Benito Mussolini.

— Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 3: Murder in Broad...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 3: Murder in Broad Daylight

The episode noted that the book was an international bestseller written by Mussolini's mistress and titled The Life of Benito Mussolini.

"

Aided no end by the international bestseller written by his mistress Sarfati, The Life of Benito Mussolini.

The Long March on Rome: The Forgotten War (Forgotten Aspects of World War Two) Cover

Charles Whiting

The Long March on Rome

The Forgotten War (Forgotten Aspects of World War Two)

The book was noted as being authored by Giulia Albanese, highlighting her contribution to the subject.

"

She is the author of the March on Rome, an editor of Rethinking the History of Italian Fascism.

— Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 1: Italy’s Fascist...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Benito Mussolini Part 1: Italy’s Fascist Godfather

The book was noted as being authored by Giulia Albanese, highlighting her contribution to the subject.

"

She is the author of the March on Rome, an editor of Rethinking the History of Italian Fascism.

A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture, Revised and Updated with a New Epilogue Cover

Marguerite Feitlowitz

A Lexicon of Terror

Argentina and the Legacies of Torture, Revised and Updated with a New Epilogue

The transcript noted that historian Marguerite Feitlowitz was the author of the book.

"

Marguite Feitlowitz, historian and author of A Lexicon of Terror.

— Episode: General Videla Part 4: Dictator in the C...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: General Videla Part 4: Dictator in the Courtroom

The transcript noted that historian Marguerite Feitlowitz was the author of the book.

"

Marguite Feitlowitz, historian and author of A Lexicon of Terror.

Blood on the Crossbar: The Dictatorship's World Cup Cover

Rhys Richards

Blood on the Crossbar

The Dictatorship's World Cup

The podcast identified it as a history of the 1978 World Cup, written by journalist Rhys Richards.

"

Rhys Richards is a journalist and author of Blood on the Crossbar, a history of the 1978 World Cup.

— Episode: General Videla Part 3: God, Football, th...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: General Videla Part 3: God, Football, the Falkland...

The podcast identified it as a history of the 1978 World Cup, written by journalist Rhys Richards.

"

Rhys Richards is a journalist and author of Blood on the Crossbar, a history of the 1978 World Cup.

A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture, Revised and Updated with a New Epilogue Cover

Marguerite Feitlowitz

A Lexicon of Terror

Argentina and the Legacies of Torture, Revised and Updated with a New Epilogue

The host noted that Marguerite Feitlerwitz authored a book titled A Lexicon of Terror, linking her expertise to the episode's subject matter.

"

Marguerite Feitlerwitz is the author of A Lexicon of Terror.

— Episode: General Videla Part 1: The Skinny One an...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: General Videla Part 1: The Skinny One and the Witc...

The host noted that Marguerite Feitlerwitz authored a book titled A Lexicon of Terror, linking her expertise to the episode's subject matter.

"

Marguerite Feitlerwitz is the author of A Lexicon of Terror.

The Condor Trials: Transnational Repression and Human Rights in South America Cover

Francesca Lessa

The Condor Trials

Transnational Repression and Human Rights in South America

The episode mentioned that Francesca Lessa wrote the book Condor Trials, highlighting her role as an academic commentator on the period.

"

Francesca Lessa is an academic at University College London, and the author of The Condor Trials.

— Episode: General Videla Part 1: The Skinny One an...

Get on Amazon
Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: General Videla Part 1: The Skinny One and the Witc...

The episode mentioned that Francesca Lessa wrote the book Condor Trials, highlighting her role as an academic commentator on the period.

"

Francesca Lessa is an academic at University College London, and the author of The Condor Trials.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.