by Gideon Rachman (Author)Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist, Foreign Affairs, The Times (UK) and Sunday Times From Putin, Trump, and Bolsonaro to Erdoğan, Orbán, and Xi, an intimate look at the rise of strongman leaders around the world. The first truly global treatment of the new nationalism, underpinned by an exceptional level of access to its key actors, from the award-winning journalist and author of Easternization. “A carefully written analysis of strongman leaders all over the world and the threat they pose to liberal democracy. Drawing on a wide range of sources, and providing a truly global perspective, Rachman illuminates the common instincts, tactics, and behavior that link leaders as diverse as Trump, Putin, Xi, and Modi.” - Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy “One of the most vivid and incisive accounts yet of the new authoritarianism that has swept the world.” - Foreign Affairs “Rachman is not the first to draw attention to the appeal of the strongman, but what he does well is show the common elements of their rule, who their shared enemies are, how intent they are on undermining institutional obstacles such as an independent judiciary, and the commonalities in their rhetoric.” - Prospect This is the most urgent political story of our time: authoritarian leaders have become a central feature of global politics. Since 2000, self-styled strongmen have risen to power in capitals as diverse as Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh, and Washington. These leaders are nationalists and social conservatives, with little tolerance for minorities, dissent, or the interests of foreigners. At home, they claim to be standing up for ordinary people against globalist elites; abroad, they posture as the embodiments of their nations. And everywhere they go, they encourage a cult of personality. What's more, these leaders are not just operating in authoritarian political systems but have begun to emerge in the heartlands of liberal democracy. Gideon Rachman has been in the same room with most of these strongmen and reported from their countries over a long journalistic career. While others have tried to understand their rise individually, Rachman pays full attention to the widespread phenomenon and uncovers the complex and often surprising interaction among these leaders. In the process, he identifies the common themes in our local nightmares, finding global coherence in the chaos and offering a bold new paradigm for navigating our world. Author Biography GIDEON RACHMAN is chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times. He joined the FT in 2006, after 15 years at The Economist, where he served as a correspondent in Washington D.C., Brussels, and Bangkok. In 2010 Rachman published his first book, Zero Sum World, which predicted the rise in international political tensions and turmoil that followed the global financial crisis. In 2016, Rachman won the Orwell Prize, Britain's leading award for political writing. He was also named Commentator of the year at the European Press Prize, known as the "European Pulitzers." Rachman's previous book, Easternization: Asia's Rise and America's Decline From Obama to Trump and Beyond, was published by Other Press in 2018.