Almost every dictator, at one time or another, has put pen to paper. Some have wrestled with ideas, with philosophy. Many have merely vented - spewing their diatribes onto the page. Others have made forays into fiction, poetry and drama… with varying degrees of success.

Noiser writer Duncan Barrett spoke to a man who’s made it his mission to wade through all kinds of dictators’ writings. Daniel Kalder is author of The Infernal Library, also published as Dictator Literature: A History of Bad Books by Terrible People.

Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on the dictators mentioned in this conversation. The stories of Jorge Rafael Videla and Benito Mussolini will be coming later this year.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices