About the book: 2013 / Where do bad rulers come from? Why do they become "living gods"? What is the “Egyptian disease”? How does power cripple the souls of those who possess it? And how do the destinies of people who were once the rulers of the world turn out? The heroes of the book by A. Bakov and A. Matveev belong to different historical eras, they lived in different countries and on different continents. Egyptian pharaohs, Roman Caesars, French kings, 20th century rulers - they all have one thing in common: the ways in which they came to power and maintained it. A fascinating historical study of the hidden and overt mechanisms of power will help the reader to better understand the vicissitudes of modern politics.