Customer Reviews

Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colorful Despots

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this book expecting it would be mostly a collection of outrageous photos, perhaps with captions explaining their subjects and provenance. Instead, the book comprises no more than 50% photos of varying quality (with a fair amount of stretching -- some photos appear more than once), the rest being Peter York's, snarky, well-researched text.

Many of the photos are of poor quality. In some cases, this probably could not be helped; they looked to have been copied from poorly printed originals, with misaligned color plates and the kind of oversaturation one associates with early color print publications of the mid-20th century. In other cases, the photos were clearly copied from websites and blown up much too large; the digital compression artifacts are obvious and distracting. Both problems could have been reduced if the publisher had hired a digital photo guru to color correct, sharpen, etc., though even that would not have resulted in great images.

York's text, on the other hand, is perfectly enjoyable, drawing out the design schemes common to dictators in the 20th century, mocking them by comparison to the decorating conventions in council flats, and so forth. In every case, he provides capsule biographies of the dictators and, at the end of the book, reiterates them. I appreciated these and thought they were well written.

The book should have two stars for the pictures, four stars for the text. I'm calling it three stars overall.

The front end flap of the dust jacket says a lot about the book. It's a quote from P. J. O'Rourke: 'Saddam's chandelier was the size of a two-car garage. If a reason to invade Iraq was wanted, felony interior decorating would have done.'

This book is a private look into the homes of sixteen dictators from around the world. Here are people to whom money is absolutely no object. But they did not contact Frank Lloyd Wright to seek a brilliant new design. They knew what they liked and they got it.

Many of the photographs come from fifty or more years ago, so you need to temper your view with what was in fashion at the time. This is particularly true of the homes of Hitler, Stalin, Juan Peron. The more recent homes have a kind of fancy hotel lobby look.

The book is fascinating. It's with a kind of macabre fascination that you want to see just how these people lived.

"Dictator Style" is so repulsive you can't look away. This insight into the homes of some of the most evil men and women of the twentieth century reveals depravity, a ghastly lack of taste, and a glimpse into their lives.

Common themes from a century of dictators are discussed up front. Gold, glass, marble, and 'larger than life' are the essentials. Other influences, are mentioned, but these stuck with me. Looking at the themes common to all the homes profiled, I was put in mind of pictures of Graceland, a Trump casino, or the home of someone who came into money entirely too quickly. As I write, I see that this is redundant.

Imagery from the homes of Mobuto, Ceachescu, Saddam Hussein, Milosovic, Tito, Hitler, The Marcoses, Noreiga, and others, along with discussions of the... design decisions, provides a window into the minds of people who sought out absolute power. Milosovic's home struck me as the most tasteful (overdone for my tastes, but to each his own), without the insane overstatement of many of the others. He stood on the cusp between what appeared to be an 'old school' of over-doing European palaces, and the new school of just over-doing everything. Mobuto was amazing, creating a Chinese palace in Africa. Of course, Saddam Hussein took the cake with his dozens of palaces, in the most hideous taste. Even more interesting was that he routinely retired to very modest quarters.

The snapshots of how these people chose to live are disturbing, pathetic, and tacky all at once. The taste displayed is utterly repulsive, but the people behind the images are so facinating that (in a repulsive way) you can't turn away.

DICTATOR STYLE: LIFESTYLES OF THE WORLD'S MOST COLORFUL DESPOTS is a hard book to peg: pairing interior design with a funny look at history's alarming dictators, it blends a racy sense of humor with fun profiles of the inner sanctums of the terrifying. Sixteen such interiors - largely bygone by now - are featured along with dictator profiles and 'achievements': you don't know whether to laugh or cry - but will probably wind up doing both.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I bought this book, expecting a lot more pictures. It seems however that the publishers didn't have enough pictures and tried instead to fill the pages with shallow and cheap commentries. I didn't buy this to read about these dictators and learn about them. There are much more in depth and serious books and materials for that. I just wanted to see how they lived and what their homes/palaces looked like. This book only had a few pictures which can probably be found on the Net anyway. I was dissapointed

Very entertaining and a good present for someone who is difficult to buy for.

Page 102 Slobodan Milosevic. I am shocked that Mr York did not even bother to see who has been living in the Royal Compound in Belgrade following our revolution 5 October 2000. The text is loaded with lies. Mr York did not even bother to inform himself of the facts. For example page 103 shows my desk, a picture of my wife and I and three sons Peter, Philip and Alexander, look at the pen holder with the A and crown. The White House is the White Palace and page 106 shows the main hall with a portrait of my grandfather King Alexander above the fireplace. Page 107 was never a chapel and the theme is about Czar Dushan poems and what Mr York refers to as a cross is a billiard cue holder. My family name is Karadjordjevic and not Kradordevice. There are many more errors. Full of Lies - no proper research

The photos were few in number and of low quality. The author just describes what he sees in photos he has found or been given. Doesn't reflect research. The author references words and activities that only (certain) British citizens will understand. Why were other obvious dictators omitted? No photos! The author should have taken his own photos of the houses.