The Infernal Library

Daniel Kalder

ISBN 10: 1627793429 / ISBN 13: 9781627793421

Published by Henry Holt, 2018

About this Item

Many 20th-century despots, including Stalin, Hitler and Mao, wrote extensively before or during their reigns, producing theoretical works, poetry, memoirs, and even the occasional romance. Kalder?s sardonic survey of their literary efforts makes broader points about the dictatorial mindset and the ?immense and lasting harm? such books can cause, arguing that the urge to use words to control or deny facts is a hallmark of tyranny.

Seller Inventory # 513718

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Infernal Library
• Publisher: Henry Holt
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1627793429
• ISBN 13: 9781627793421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

"A mesmerizing study of books by despots great and small, from the familiar to the largely unknown."
―The Washington Post

A darkly humorous tour of "dictator literature" in the twentieth century, featuring the soul-killing prose and poetry of Hitler, Mao, and many more, which shows how books have sometimes shaped the world for the worse

Since the days of the Roman Empire dictators have written books. But in the twentieth-century despots enjoyed unprecedented print runs to (literally) captive audiences. The titans of the genre―Stalin, Mussolini, and Khomeini among them―produced theoretical works, spiritual manifestos, poetry, memoirs, and even the occasional romance novel and established a literary tradition of boundless tedium that continues to this day.

How did the production of literature become central to the running of regimes? What do these books reveal about the dictatorial soul? And how can books and literacy, most often viewed as inherently positive, cause immense and lasting harm? Putting daunting research to revelatory use, Daniel Kalder asks and brilliantly answers these questions.

Marshalled upon the beleaguered shelves of The Infernal Library are the books and commissioned works of the century’s most notorious figures. Their words led to the deaths of millions. Their conviction in the significance of their own thoughts brooked no argument. It is perhaps no wonder then, as Kalder argues, that many dictators began their careers as writers.

About the Author

Daniel Kalder is the author of Lost Cosmonaut and Strange Telescopes. He is also a journalist who has contributed to the BBC as well as to Esquire, The Guardian, The Times, The Dallas Morning News, and many other publications. Originally from Fife, Scotland, he lived in Moscow for ten years and currently resides in Central Texas.