Overview
What’s it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? Not just any dictator, but a genocidal monster on the level of a Josef Stalin? What’s it like to bear a name synonymous with oppression, terror, and evil?
Jay Nordlinger, a senior editor of National Review, set out to answer that question in his book “Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators.” He looks into the families of the worst of the worst: Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and so on.
Some of the kids are down-the-line loyalists. Some even succeeded their fathers as dictators themselves (as in North Korea and Syria). Some have doubts. A few defect. All have been rocked by prison, war, exile, and the like. These men and women lead all-too-interesting lives.
This is a presentation that was delivered as part of the 2015 Acton Lecture Series.
Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators
