Half a century after their deaths the dictatorships of Stalin & Hitler still cast a long & terrible shadow over the modern world. They were the most destructive & lethal regimes in history murdering millions. They fought the largest & costliest war in all history. Yet millions of Germans & Russians enthusiastically supported them & the values they stood for. In this first major study of the two dictatorships side-by-side Richard Overy sets out to answer the question: How was dictatorship possible? How did they function? What was the bond that tied dictator & people so powerfully together? He paints a remarkable & vivid account of the different ways in which Stalin & Hitler rose to power & abused & dominated their people. It is a chilling analysis of powerful ideals corrupted by the vanity of ambitious & unscrupulous men.