Dictatorland cover art

Dictatorland

The Men Who Stole Africa

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Dictatorland

By: Paul Kenyon
Narrated by: Hamilton McLeod
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Dictatorland by Paul Kenyon, read by Hamilton McLeod.

A Financial Times Book of the Year

'Jaw-dropping' Daily Express
'Grimly fascinating' Financial Times
'Humane, timely, accessible and well-researched' Irish Times

The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people. The Libyan army officer who authored a new work of political philosophy, The Green Book, and lived in a tent with a harem of female soldiers, running his country like a mafia family business.

And behind these almost incredible stories of fantastic violence and excess lie the dark secrets of Western greed and complicity, the insatiable taste for chocolate, oil, diamonds and gold that has encouraged dictators to rule with an iron hand, siphoning off their share of the action into mansions in Paris and banks in Zurich and keeping their people in dire poverty.

©2023 Paul Kenyon (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. 20th Century Africa Corruption & Misconduct Modern Politics & Government World Imperialism Colonial Period War Military Middle East Latin American

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Critic reviews

'Jaw-dropping' Daily Express

'Grimly fascinating' Financial Times

'Humane, timely, accessible and well-researched' Irish Times
All stars
Most relevant  
Do not hesitate. Once the narrator gets into his stride his interpretation brings more life to the reader. I soon eagerly awaited my next listening session. The work that went into the text is truly inspiring. Surely a credit to Paul’s lifetime achievement. I had set out to revisit all the news I’d missed in the 70’s about the upheavals in Africa. There was so much I didn’t know and this work has taken me to the next level and improved my humanitarian outlook on those who have suffered through no fault of their own. Many times incapable of influencing change. Us westerners don’t know how blessed we are.

A compelling mixture of tales so similar yet so so diverse.

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A brilliant and at times harrowing chronicle of how a continent has been systematically abused by its ruling elite.

Phenomenal

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I had read this book before.I found it to be an easy read. The Paragraphs in just the right places to keep the heavy content in bite sized pieces.
This man, HAMILTON, chosen by AUDIBLE to read it., was a most irritating person. He read this book as though it was Treasure Island. Too much Expression and RIDICULOUS CHARACTER VOICES.
In future, I will definitely listen before I buy.

The way it was read.

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