The biography of a man generally agreed to be one of the most cruel dictators in post-war Europe. It is more than simply an account of the most unacceptable of the Stalinist dictators of Eastern Europe, it also explains how Ceausescu was able to rise to power without having any attribute of intelligence, oratory or charisma. And having achieved power, how he retained it until his execution by a system of informers, secret police and a subterranean city of tunnels under Bucharest. For 24 years of increasing misery the Ceausescu"s held power - complete with a personality cult.