Présentation de l'éditeur
Our homes are an extension of our personalities. Home is the place where we are truly ourselves and it reveals a great deal about what makes us tick. Peter York looks at how some of history's most alarming men and women have chosen to decorate their homes; exploring the private tastes of these public figures in the broader context of twentieth century interiors and architecture. From Benito Mussolini's inglenook fireplace to Hitler's parquet floor; Saddam Hussein's private artwork to General Noriega's Christmas tree; he leaves no design detail unexamined. These buildings illustrate what happens when unrestricted imagination collides with unlimited power. Dictators' Homes affords as great an insight into some of history's most dangerous minds as any interview or archive.
Quatrième de couverture
Welcome to the fabulous lifestyles of the cruel and despotic. Running with the idea that our homes are where we are truly ourselves, Peter York's wildly original and scathingly funny look at the interior decorating tastes of some of history's most alarming dictators proves that absolute power corrupts absolutely, right down to the drapes. Mining rare, jaw-dropping photographs of interiors now mostly (thankfully) destroyed, York's hilarious profiles of 16 inner sanctums of the scary leaves no endangered tiger pelt unturned, from Saddam Hussein's creepy private art collection to General Noriega's Christmas tree to the strange tube and knob contraption in the Ceausescu bathroom. All your favorite dictators are here: Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Tito, Mussolini, Mobutu, Idi Amin, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos-each with their own uniquely frightful chic. An interior decorating book like no other, Dictator Style is a welcome tonic for a world in need of a good laugh at the expense of the all-powerful.
Peter York is an internationally renowned author, broadcaster, journalist, and style guru. A columnist for the Independent on Sunday (U.K.) and GQ, he lives in London.
Douglas Coupland is the author of ten novels and numerous books on popular culture. A regular contributor to the New York Times, New Republic, and Artforum, he lives in Vancouver.
Biographie de l'auteur
Peter York is an internationally renowned author, broadcaster and journalist. Editor of Harpers & Queens for a decade, his The Sloane Rangers Handbook - which he co-authored with Anne Barr, was one of the UK's biggest selling trade books of the 1980s. Listed by Channel 4 as a member of its 'Power Commission' which nominated the 300 most powerful people in the UK, he has also appeared on their 'Power List'. He is a columnist for the Independent on Sunday, and writes regularly for GQ and Management Today.
