Paul Hollander, “From Benito Mussolini to Hugo Chavez: Intellectuals and a Century of Political Hero Worship” (Cambridge UP, 2016)

New Books in Sociology · May 13, 2017 · 1h 1m

It’s true that Western “intellectuals” have not always been wrong about dictators fighting for a supposedly “brighter future,” usually (though not always) of the non-capitalist variety. Nonetheless, as Paul Hollander well shows in his readable, relevant book From Benito Mussolini to Hugo Chavez: Intellectuals and a Century of Political Hero Worship (Cambridge University Press, 2016), they have been wrong often enough to make one wonder if there is some sort of elective affinity between “deep thinkers” and despots promising to make the world a much, much better place. According to Hollander…