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Talk of the Devil (Hardcover)

by Riccardo Orizio (Author), Avril Bardoni (Translator)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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  • This item: Talk of the Devil by Riccardo Orizio

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd (2 Jan 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0436209993
  • ISBN-13: 978-0436209994
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 440,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"Gripping...High-grade journalism." -- "Sunday Times"
"Orizio's laconic, deadpan style is subversively funny." -- "Observer"
"A fascinating insight into the minds of evil." -- "Mail on Sunday"

"From the Trade Paperback edition."



Product Description

What happened to the great dictators of contemporary history, responsible for some of its most gruesome chapters? And, now that they are disgraced, or in prison, or exiled, or simply forgotten, do they still seem as terrifying as when they held power? Thanks to his conversion to Islam, the unrepentant Idi Amin lives in exile in Saudi Arabia and is still meddling in African wars. Before dying at his dilapidated mansion in Bangui, Bokassa proclaims himself the 13th apostle of the Roman Catholic Church and talks of his secret meetings with the Pope. Colonel Menghistu, still a guest of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, defends his Red Terror campaign. Mrs Hoxha, from her bare prison cell in Titana, argues why the most isolated regime in the world was right to adopt a brutal Stalinist ideology and explains how it worked. Paris-based Baby Doc Duvalier, in his first interview after fleeing Haiti in 1986, speaks about voodoo, solar panels, the women in his life and how he lost all his money. Mrs Milosevic, clutching her Fendi handbag, defends the wars in the former Yugoslavia and declares her love for her husband, Slobodan, Jaruzelski, entrenched in a furious legal battle in a Warsaw court, reveals his personal transition from son of an aristocratic family exiled to Siberia by the Soviets, to autocrat army general in sunglasses who defended Moscow's supremacy in eastern Europe. In Talk of the Devil Riccardo Orizio has tracked down these fallen tyrants and thrown a new light on people whose names have become synonymous with misery, death and terror for entire nations.
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Talk of the Devil
79% buy the item featured on this page:
Talk of the Devil 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£13.59
Lost White Tribes: Journeys Amongst the Forgotten
17% buy
Lost White Tribes: Journeys Amongst the Forgotten 4.1 out of 5 stars (10)
£8.48
The Soccer War
4% buy
The Soccer War 4.8 out of 5 stars (5)
£5.88
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars an excellent author in the making, 21 April 2003
By R.S. Boulter (Dublin, Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews
After, reading this book, i have to say that i am much more knowlegeable about dictators which seemed to have slipped from the world stage but who have left their legacy upon their respective countries. The interviews are intimate and orizio seems adept at bringing to the surface, the true character of such people as Bokassa and Jaruzelski. My only problem with the book is that, he seems to only scratch the surface but leaves you interested. All the information is fresh and relevant. Each chapter is about each dictator , going through the background and the eventual downfall of tyrants such as idi amin.
I would recommend the book, it's certainly very readable
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Where Are They Now?, 21 Aug 2003
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Those seeking detailed biographies of the dictators Italian journalist Orizio tracks down, or penetrating histories and analyses of the years of their respective rule should turn elsewhere, as this is not the book for them. Instead, this is an oddly compelling mix of investigatory reportage and "Where Are They Now?" for readers with an interest in international events. Anyone looking for rigor and meticulous detail will not be pleased with the short chapters such as those on Idi Amin or Bokassa, in which Orizio spends more time recounting his efforts to find his quarry than actually talking to them. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, for the sad truth of the book is that these dictators may have come from a range of cultural and economic backgrounds, but they all end up saying the same thing.

In his preface, Orizio writes that "I deliberately chose those who had fallen from power in disgrace, because those who fall on their feet tend not to examine their own conscience." However, the cliché of the banality of evil fulfills itself, as every single interviewee has the same lies, excuses, and delusions as the others (except for Bokassa, who insists the Pope secretly proclaimed him the 13th Apostle). Unrepentence is rife, as the interviewees trot out the same old chestnuts:"history will vindicate me", "the crimes I'm accused of are all lies perpetrated by my enemies", "my country was better off under me, " "I love my people/country." Clearly none of them have any interest in or incentive for honest examination of their rule, indeed, at this point belief in their own mythology is probably an ingrained psychological self-defense mechanism.

Orizio does present a brief sketch of each dictator's country, and of the history of their rule. We find that hand in hand with the psychological similarity is a methodological similarity in rule. Rise to power based on ideology (or voodoo in the case of Baby Doc), consolidation of power via construction of cult of personality enforced by secret police, leading to corruption, cronyism, and systematic transfer of national wealth to Swiss bank accounts. The odd man out in all this is General Jaruzelski, who instituted martial law in Poland in 1981, and whose hands are vastly less bloody than those of the six others in the book.

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