A Brotherhood of Tyrants: Manic Depression and Absolute Power

by D. Jablow Hershman, Julian Lieb, E.J. Koh

Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin were three tyrants, and the effects of their brutal regimes are still with us. Each attained absolute power, and misused it in a gargantuan fashion, leaving in his wake a trail of hatred, devastation, and death.In A Brotherhood of Tyrants, D. Jablow Hershman and Julian Lieb uncover manic depression as a hidden cause of dictatorship, war, and mass killing. In comparing these three tyrants, they describe...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879758880
• ISBN13: 9780879758882
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting pathology of notorious rulers

The authors are quite convincing in their portrayal of Hitler and, especially, Napoleon as Manic Depressives. Their case of Stalin, however, is completely unconvincing; Stalin clearly was a psychopath. Napoleon was a charismatic leader, but he completely abandoned his army both in Egypt and in Russia. With the bi-polar disorder, the authors have found a convincing explanation for the extremes of his behavior. In the case of Hitler, I want to refer to the book "When Illness strikes the Leader" by Post and Robins. They describe how Hitler was taking coke and speed simultaneously. Cocaine produces a sense of well-being and confidence that can mount to feelings of elation and grandiosity. Hitler's doctor, Morell, administered his notorious patient a wide array of sedatives. Hitler confessed: "If I had not got my faithful Morell, I should be absolutely knocked out!" Hitler's addictions could also explain his successive symptoms of elation and depression.

A fascinating perspective on history, rarely explored

I don't know why I bought this book, and I didn't read it for several years after I bought it, but one day I picked it up, and I couldn't put it down! It is a most unusual and fascinating perspective on what drove three men to absolute power and madness - that all three of them shared similar mental illnesses. True? Perhaps. Interesting? I have read it at least twice since. A must read!

possibly the most enlightening document of recent history

This document is so accurate it will not be appreciated for years, as are many great works. General public usually 20 years behind.