When Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated an invasion of the Crimea, in violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine to which the Russian government itself had been a signatory, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry remarked in some bewilderment that Putin, with his aggressive militarism, seemed like a figure out of “the nineteenth century.”

If you agree with that, you should probably stop reading this book right now. After all, won't the progress of history take care of retrograde adventurers like Putin? He can't be more than a brief detour on our way to the spread of democracy around the world and the end of aggression.

If, on the other hand, you believe, like me, that Vladimir Putin is a figure from every century, then read on. Because this is a book about how and why tyranny is a permanent feature on the human landscape. It's about the kind of tyrannical governments that have existed throughout history and still do today – some since ancient times, some specifically connected to the modern age. It follows the strange career of tyranny from its origins in ancient Greece and Rome to the state-building despots who brought Europe out of feudalism into the modern age. Finally, it explains the totalitarian tyrannies that began with the Jacobin Terror of 1793 and continued through the Bolsheviks, Nazis, Chairman Mao, the Khmer Rouge, and today's Jihadists.

This book is also about the often twisted psychological makeup of tyrants, including those who aspire to become tyrants, namely terrorists. For terrorists, as we'll see, are tyrants in waiting, and tyrannies, once established, continue to terrorize their captive subjects. Finally, it's about the ways in which tyrants can attract rapt and devoted followers to carry out their murderous agenda.

If you find these topics interesting – and above all, necessary for informed citizens who want to protect and promote democracy – then this book is for you. It's not about every form of injustice of which man is capable. Its focus is mainly on the West. But it is based on the belief that tyranny is a permanent alternative in human affairs and in explaining political action.

The progress of history, if that has actually taken place, has plainly not gotten rid of tyranny.