Tyrants
Power, Injustice, and Terror

A history of tyranny from Achilles to today's Jihadists, this volume shows why tyrannical temptation is a permanent danger.

Waller R. Newell (Author)

9781108713917, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 September 2019

274 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.41 kg

The forces of freedom are challenged everywhere by a newly energized spirit of tyranny, whether it is Jihadist terrorism, Putin's imperialism, or the ambitions of China's dictatorship, writes Waller R. Newell in this engaging exposé of a thousand dangers. We will see why tyranny is a permanent threat by following its strange career from Homeric Bronze Age warriors, through the empires of Alexander the Great and Rome, to the medieval struggle between the City of God and the City of Man, leading to the state-building despots of the Modern Age including the Tudors and 'enlightened despots' such as Peter the Great. The book explores the psychology of tyranny from Nero to Gaddafi, and how it changes with the Jacobin Terror into millenarian revolution. Stimulating and enlightening, Tyrants: Power, Injustice, and Terror will appeal to anyone interested in the danger posed by tyranny and terror in today's world.

Introduction: the strange career of tyranny
Part I. The Rage of Achilles: From Homeric Heroes to Lord and God of the World
Part II. City of God or City of Man? The Tyrant as Modern State-Builder
Part III. The Eagles Will Drop Dead from the Skies: Millenarian Tyranny from Robespierre to Al Qaeda
Conclusion: how democracy can win.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], General & world history [HBG]