Madmen of History

As stated in the Introduction, this book has been republished at least every 10 years since its first appearance in 1976. That pace has represented a sort of "watchful waiting," for this is a book of history, not current events, and it often takes a long time for tyrants to arise and seize power. It takes even longer for these perpetrators of misery and repression to arouse sufficient revulsion that their removal from prominence is undertaken, their punishment or demise assured, and their place in infamy recorded. Who will the next tyrants be? Look east. Donald D. Hook, Ph.D., is Professor _emeritus_ of Modern Languages and Literature at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. Author of books and articles on linguistics and literary subjects, religious matters, sociology, cultural history, quotations, genealogy (with wife Harriett Blackwell Hook), and short fiction, Dr. Hook retired from university teaching in 1994 and moved to Delaware, where he continues to treat controversial topics both in non-fiction and fiction writings, as in his recent _Contradictions: Short Stories and Psychograms_.