How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator [Paperback]

Andre de Guillaume (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A comical dig at global politics." -- Razor

"From Frederick the Great to Adolph Hitler . . . tips that help you decide if you really want this sort of career." -- Associated Press

"Has much advice to impart . . . pays homage to historical conquistadors . . . also provides dictator dating tips." -- New York Daily News

"How to handle all the wealth, sex, and paranoia that comes with absolute power." -- The Salt Lake Tribune April, 2003

"Tips that can help you decide if you really want this sort of career." -- Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune

"Tongue only slightly in cheek . . . he looks to famous despots of history." -- The Middletown Journal

"Tongue only slightly in cheek." -- Daily Sentinel --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (October 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556525877
• ISBN-13: 978-1556525872
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Political
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Parodies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lets get ready to rule!!!, September 18, 2003

By 

Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (Hardcover)

Samuel Johnson said "There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful", and when it comes to this amusing little book, how right he was. Serious students of world domination may start with Machievelli's "The Prince", the rest of us can have a laugh over this.

The chapters are an interesting tempters - they include "Have You Got What it Takes?", which details the ideal personality of a leader; "Career Paths to the Top" which lists 10 jobs likely to lead to world domination (one is a parking inspector); "Advanced World Rule" which discusses among other things founding a faith and "Posterity - Leaving Your Mark" - the joy of large monuments and best selling memoirs. There are enough real life tales here, told very tongue in cheek to make this quite an informative little book, but really it is just a very funny dig at the dictators and autocrats of the world. An agonisingly serious topic no doubt, but very funny here! Enjoy!

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instant Power. Just read this book., May 29, 2005

By 

Timmie (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (Hardcover)

Although this book is aimed mainly at men (I'm an 18 year old social princess), it is one of the best books I have ever read on power in every sense of the word.

The difference between this book and others is that it actually tells you the true secrets to success. Andre de Guillaume is 100% on the money when he said that, "power rarely goes to people who deserve it; it must be taken by force". The minute I finished reading this - controversial - book, I noticed an immediate change in my mindset. I have probably gone through the book fifty times by now, and I never get sick of it. My life has changed considerably for the better if only because I now see things from the eyes of a despot.

It's humorous, cruel and unnecessarily violent, but Goddess is it ever true. Feel free to test out the books therories immediately - I have, with impressive results.

You may not want to rule *the* world, but you will definitely know how to rule *your* world and everyone in it. And that's all that really matters, anyway.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When I rule, this instruction manual will be destroyed!, July 1, 2004

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (Hardcover)

This is the ultimate manual for any up and coming dictator which takes the reader step by step through the process of how to become the ruler of a country, and ultimately if you can handle the pace, the world! This book is so good that when I become ruler of the world I will have all copies destroyed so that no one will be able to take my place.

With this book you'll learn important stuff like learning how to watch your back, whilst stabbing someone else's. The secret is not to worry what is right or wrong, only what is effective and other inspirational messages that will take you all the way to the top. This is the aspiring dictator's bible!