Table of Contents

Introduction: the strange career of tyranny; Part I. The Rage of Achilles: From Homeric Heroes to Lord and God of the World; Part II. City of God or City of Man? The Tyrant as Modern State-Builder; Part III. The Eagles Will Drop Dead from the Skies: Millenarian Tyranny from Robespierre to Al Qaeda; Conclusion: how democracy can win.

Promotional Information

A history of tyranny from Achilles to today's Jihadists, this volume shows why tyrannical temptation is a permanent danger.

About the Author

Waller R. Newell is Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Carleton University, Ottawa, where he helped found and also teaches in the College of the Humanities, Canada's only four-year baccalaureate in the Great Books. He has held a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship. His books include Tyranny: A New Interpretation (Cambridge, 2013); The Soul of a Leader: Character, Conviction and Ten Lessons in Political Greatness (2010); and The Code of Man: Love, Courage, Pride, Family, Country (2003). He served on the first Reagan Administration transition team in the areas of humanitarian affairs and human rights. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University, Connecticut.