Publisher's Synopsis
What did dictators eat? Sometimes simply obscene amounts of the best their nations could offer, but more often their humble origins, or embarrassing medical conditions, or simple lack of interest in food meant their tastes were unpretentious - ranging from human flesh, to raw garlic salad, to Quality Street. Dictators' Dinners is an investigation into what some of the world's most notorious 20th century despots have enjoyed at their dinner tables, and with whom. Here we learn of their foibles, their eccentricities and their frequent terror of poisoning - something no number of food tasters was ever able to assuage. For a selection of 25 former national figureheads across the world, each section comprises an outline of the dictator's history, a short essay on their particular eating habits, table manners, digestive systems etc. and one or two of their favourite recipes.
