Ferdinand Mount explains why he believes Caesar-style politics persist and continue to threaten democracy. In a robust analysis of societies dating from Ancient Greece to the present day, Mount shows how every democracy has been attacked or destroyed by a would-be Caesar. He highlights the rise and fall of the Caesar-style leaders, from Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell to Trump and Johnson. Big Caesars want total social control, Little Caesars settle for an agreeable kleptocracy without opposition.
Ferdinand Mount is a leading authority on politics today and writes for The Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books. He was previously political editor of The Spectator, and he led Margaret Thatcher’s Number 10 Policy Unit for two years.
