How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator - Softcover

De Guillaume, André

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556525877 ISBN 13: 9781556525872

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2005

Synopsis

Everyone wants to rule the world, but only a precious few have the skills to create an ironclad plan of attack. Simple, direct, and delightfully unprincipled, this guide contains tales of global power mongering from every age and endeavors to show dilettante dictators and tyrants-to-be just how it's done. Tips are provided on creating a personal flag, what type of puppet government to establish, how to squelch free speech, and, most important, how to handle enemies. Also included are humorous full-color illustrations, sidebars on admirable despots, and self-quizzes that allow readers to see if they have what it takes to conquer the world.

About this title

About the Author:

André de Guillaume attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in England, where he learned to march with authority, tell people what to do, and appreciate fine wines. His attempted coup in the Cashman Islands was foiled, but his dictatorship tendencies remain untarnished.

From Publishers Weekly:

This slim satirical volume purports to map the road to world (or at least great) power from childhood to the grave. Send-ups of everything abound, from pop psychology questionnaires such as "Have You Got What It Takes?" and lists of "Career Paths" (salesman being ideal, since it teaches how to lie with a straight face). After advising on how to seize power, by force or fraud, the tips then cover designing a national flag, managing money while gaining as little of it as possible honestly and arranging your love life so that it enhances your respectability. (This means that your wives and mistresses never meet.) There is even a guide for retirement, should one live so long. The historical snippets have much the same tone, although the portrayals of kids torturing animals to prepare for tyranny and the distinctly Third World flavor of the dictators may not strike everyone as funny. Others may more mildly object to bracketing Elizabeth I of England with Attila the Hun and the Bertelsmann conglomerate with the Mongols. The latter is an insider nod to de Guillaume's alter ego, unacknowledged in the text or on the jacket copy: when not aspiring to thrones, de Guillaume is called Andrew Wilkins, and serves as publisher of Australian Bookseller & Publisher.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1556525877
• ISBN 13: 9781556525872
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144