**AN ECONOMIST AND THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR** 'Essential and definitive' CATHERINE BELTON, author of PUTIN'S PEOPLE We are in a new era. From Trump, Putin and Bolsonaro to Erdogan, Xi and Modi, self-styled strongmen have become a central feature of global politics. At home, they claim to be standing up for ordinary people against 'globalist' elites; abroad, they posture as the embodiment of their nation. And everywhere they go, they encourage a cult of personality. How and why did this new style of authoritarian leadership arrive? How likely is it to lead the world into war and economic collapse? And what liberal forces are in place, not only to keep these strongmen in check but to reverse the trend? The Age of the Strongman explores these essential questions and offers a bold new portrait of our world. 'TIMELY, LASER-SHARP... A MUST-READ' PETER FRANKOPAN 'FORCEFUL... A BOOK WHOSE SIGNIFICANCE IS ENHANCED BY UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS' MISHA GLENNY 'WIDE-RANGING AND ASTUTE' THE ECONOMIST

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Putin was the archetype and model for the current generation of strongman leaders. He took over in 1999, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and promised to protect freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and ownership rights. #2 Putin’s rise to power in Russia was rapid, just ten years before he became head of state. He had been a lowly figure in the intelligence services, working as an officer for the KGB in Dresden in East Germany, before becoming president. #3 Putin was born into the Soviet Union’s ruling class. He grew up in a small flat in a run-down apartment building in Russia’s grandest city, Leningrad. He was promoted to increasingly lofty positions under President Yeltsin, who then stepped aside to allow Putin to take over at the turn of the millennium. #4 As Putin established himself in office, the image-makers got to work in crafting a strongman persona for the Russian leader. Many Russians were ready for a strongman leader after the collapse of the Soviet system allowed for democracy and freedom of speech, but many Russians experienced a severe drop in living standards and personal security.

This book is an exercise in political theology, exploring the problem of gender- based violence by focusing on violent male subjects and the issue of entitlement. It addresses gender-based violence in familial and military settings before engaging with a wider political context. The chapters draw on sources ranging from Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Étienne Balibar to Rowan Williams and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Entitlement is theorized and interpreted as a gender pattern, predisposing subjects towards controlling behaviour and/or violent actions. Steven Ogden develops a theology of transformation, stressing immanence. He examines entitled subjects, predisposed to violence, where transformation requires a limit-experience that wrenches the subject from itself. The book then reflects on today’s pervasive strongman politics, where political rationalities foster proprietorial thinking and entitlement gender patterns, and how theology is called to develop counter-discourses and counter-practices.

Tells the story of Zishe Breitbart, a poor Polish Jewish boy who became the featured strong man of circuses around the world and was known as The Iron King.

Biblical Answers to Spiritual Warfare Questions Have you ever wondered... Can Christians be demon-possessed? Are natural disasters the judgment of God? Why does it seem that my prayers are not being answered? Why do I have so much trouble with the Devil? What is the difference between God's voice and the Devil's voice? How do I overcome the spirit of jealousy, divination, bondage, and infirmity? Within the pages of this book are simple, no-nonsense, biblical answers that will help you to understand what it is to be one of God's warriors in these last days.

My assignment to write this collection of prophetic exposés on the subject of Binding The Strongman was given to me by God. It is to publicly expose some of the deceitful teachings in the Body of Christ that have been planted therein by satan: one is the apostolic session of the bishops, which is his attack on God's Kingdom governmental order; another is his attack on God's first ranking officers, His apostles, as well as a number of other issues the Lord had me to address proving that His apostles are more than just a function, and that His Apostles are not just a Proverb. Prophetic exposés are spiritual messages given by a prophet that publicly exposes the wicked works of satan which he has perpetrated against God's Kingdom on Planet Earth. During this writing process, I was spiritually confronted many times about how these messages would affect those I know and love in the various Christian ministries. However, the messages the Lord has given in this body of work are too precious to Him and are vital to His Body, the Church; therefore, I dare not allow them to be squashed or silenced by the enemy. For our Lord has said these truths must be delivered to and taught to this generation. He does not want another generation growing up with these lies and deception of the past and that is why He is bringing correction now to His Church. The lies and deceptions must be uncovered, challenged, and destroyed now to undo centuries of satanic anarchy in our assemblies. God's Word of truth, order, and rulership is being restored and reestablished in His Church. The purposes of these articles are that the brethren be strengthen by the teachings herein. Hence, I challenge you to gird up your loins with God's truth. God is calling forth the apostles to take their God-ordained place as His first ranking officers in His Church and in His Kingdom. We are to move forward to fulfill the mandate of God addressed in the articles written in this book, BINDING THE STRONGMAN-A Collection of Prophetic Exposés.

Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall is the first Brit in 24 years to win the World’s Strongest Man competition, beating The Mountain from Game of Thrones. Everything about Eddie is huge. Standing at 6’3 he weighs almost 30 stone, and to make it through his hellish four-hour gym sessions he needs to eat a minimum of 10,000 calories a day. He eats a raw steak during weight sessions. His right eyeball once burst out of its socket under the strain. He put it back in. In his remarkable autobiography, Eddie takes you inside the world of the professional strongman – the nutrition, the training and competitions themselves. This is a visceral story of sporting achievement, an athlete pushing himself to the limits, and the personal journey of a man on the path to becoming being the best of the best. Contains strong language.

This book explores the critical role of informal diplomats in shaping contemporary global politics as they navigate complex networks of power and influence in the age of strongman leaders. The world of international relations has long been viewed as the domain of state institutions and career diplomats. But in the age of strongman leaders, a new set of actors has emerged as key players in foreign policy: informal diplomats drawn from diasporas, religious communities, and trade networks. Through a collection of essays by historians, anthropologists, and political scientists, this book traces the historical parallels and continuities between these informal diplomats and the diasporic networks that have existed for centuries, shedding light on their critical role in the making of contemporary global politics. By exploring the thick social basis of the strongman-informal diplomat partnership, the contributors offer a fresh perspective on the social worlds that animate international politics today. This innovative volume will be of interest to students and researchers of politics and international relations. This book was originally published as a special issue of History and Anthropology.

From the bestselling author of the Don’t Know Much About® books comes a dramatic account of the origins of democracy, the history of authoritarianism, and the reigns of five of history's deadliest dictators. A Washington Post Best Book of the Year!A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year! A YALSA 2021 Nonfiction Award Nominee! What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders—strongmen—capable of killing millions acquire their power? How are they able to defeat the ideal of democracy? And what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again? By profiling five of the most notoriously ruthless dictators in history—Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein—Kenneth C. Davis seeks to answer these questions, examining the forces in these strongmen’s personal lives and historical periods that shaped the leaders they’d become. Meticulously researched and complete with photographs, Strongman provides insight into the lives of five leaders who callously transformed the world and serves as an invaluable resource in an era when democracy itself seems in peril. * "A fascinating, highly readable portrayal of infamous men that provides urgent lessons for democracy now." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "Strongman is a book that is both deeply researched and deeply felt, both an alarming warning and a galvanizing call to action, both daunting and necessary to read and discuss." —Cynthia Levinson, author of Fault Lines in the Constitution

Gary Gerstle provides a sweeping re-interpretation of the entire era - from the revival of market liberalism in the 1970s to the ruin generated by the 2008 global financial crisis - that places America at the center.--