(NAPS)—What makes a man a tyrant? In the course of history, there have been a few charismatic individuals whose horrific violence has dominated our imaginations. How did these tyrants manage to seize power? How are they able to commit such horrible atrocities? THE LIVES FROM NERO ro or FIVE SADDAM TYRANTS, HUSSEIN Look Oplendor DANIEL MYERSON | f Matricide. Genocide. Nothing wastoovile for power-madrulers whose names bring shivers to the soul. In Blood And Splendor: The Lives of Five Tyrants, From Nero to Saddam Hussein (Harper- Perennial, $14,) author and schol- ar Daniel Myerson, presents com- pelling portraits of five of what many would agree were the worst rulers the world has ever known: Nero, Ivan the Terrible, Hitler, Stalin and Saddam Hussein. In five short but substantial bios Myerson explores the demons that drove them to such violent extremes and reveals how the extravagance of their lives and the complexity of their obsessions were played out through their political actions with global consequences. Blood And Splendor exposes the madness, cunning, even genius that propels these men to power. Spanning centuries and continents, these biographies offer a fascinating glimpseintofive of his- tory’s darkest hearts and minds. Blood And Splendor: The Lives of Five Tyrants, From Nero to Sad- dam Hussein is available at local bookstores.
