Micah D. Halpern

I obtained "Thugs" unaware that it was a very basic introduction into the world of dictators. Halpern gives us a couple of pages each of very basic information on men ranging from the Biblical David to Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Leopold II of Belgium, Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi. I don't think I learnt anything new about any of the subjects and, combined with Halpern's style of very short sentences and basic language, makes it feel like the intended audience for "Thugs" are junior high school students.

While Halpern could not cover every tyrant in this world's history, I was surprised by the omission of some; no Bokassa, Pinochet, Duvalier or Stroessner, to name but a few that did not make the cut. Maybe Halpern was eyeing a sequel.

If you want a very basic introduction into some of the world's greatest tyrants and dictators, then this could be the book for you, but I see little use for this otherwise.… (meer)