Ben Gazur talks to Toby Lichtig

This is history – but not as we know it. Come on a sweeping journey through thousands of years of tyrants, seeing anew the lives and legacies of those who ruled through fear, manipulation and absolute power. Historian Ben Gazur shows the rise of ancient despots and modern-day dictators – how they maintained control, and how they ultimately fell.

A timely meditation on the nature of power and corruption, this gripping session looks at all forms of tyranny – political, personal, and psychological – from Julius Caesar to Adolf Hitler via Ivan the Terrible. Why have individuals always sought and abused power, and why does tyranny continue to resurface in new forms today? Gazur talks to the Times Literary Supplement’s politics and fiction editor Toby Lichtig.