How tyrants fall

Résumé · "Tyrants face critical weaknesses that can form a fatal trap. Whether it's their inner circle turning against them or resentment of elites in the military, the masses alienated by cronyism or revolutionaries plotting in exile, tyrants always have more enemies than friends. In How Tyrants Fall, we meet the likes of a revolutionary (codenamed Satan) who risked Stasi capture to undermine an oppressive regime, an American-Gambian activist who plotted to liberate his homeland during breaks from his construction job, and the unapologetic former leader of a Burundian rebel group which carried out a massacre. Drawing on a gripping field research and interviews, political scientist Marcel Dirsus examines the workings and malfunctions of tyrants. But understanding dictators isn't enough. How Tyrant Fall is the gripping, deeply researched blueprint for how to bring them down."