Justin Marozzi
The Great Dictator
The Real Fidel Castro
By Leycester Colman
Yale University Press 352pp £25
WHEN A DICTATOR has served a certain time in office, it becomes fashionable to ignore the less attractive aspects of his rule (arbitrary arrests, beatings, torture, crushing of all opposition - the usual roll-call of revolutionary exuberance) and regard him with a more benevolent eye. After thirty-four years spent frightening the life out of ordinary Libyans - flirting with international terrorism here, blowing up aeroplanes and discos there - Colonel Gaddafi appears to have reached that agreeable stage of life. Several billion well-placed dollars, the price of killing hundreds of innocent civilians on two airliners, have helped ease him back into the community of nations. 'You know, that Gaddafi's a bit of a character, isn't he?' goes the cry. 'Look how many American presidents he's seen off, and he's still in power. You have to admire him.' Well, no, you don't actually. The man is a dangerous criminal. Like his dictatorial brethren around the world, he has waged war on his own people.
Fidel Castro achieved cuddly-dictator status much earlier than Gaddafi. One reason for this is his greater number of years at the helm. The grand-daddy of Marxist revolutionaries, he seized power in Cuba in' 1959, a fill decade before the Libyan leader ousted King Idris. Another, more important explanation is that
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
It is a triumph @arthistorynews and my review @Lit_Review is here!
In just thirteen years, George Villiers rose from plain squire to become the only duke in England and the most powerful politician in the land. Does a new biography finally unravel the secrets of his success?
John Adamson investigates.
John Adamson - Love Island with Ruffs
John Adamson: Love Island with Ruffs - The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
literaryreview.co.uk
During the 1930s, Winston Churchill retired to Chartwell, his Tudor-style country house in Kent, where he plotted a return to power.
Richard Vinen asks whether it’s time to rename the decade long regarded as Churchill’s ‘wilderness years’.
Richard Vinen - Croquet & Conspiracy
Richard Vinen: Croquet & Conspiracy - Churchill’s Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm by Katherine Carter
literaryreview.co.uk