User reviews

Interesting series but bothers me that we don't have an episode to Chairman Mao. One of the biggest tyrants to ever live.

I don't do reviews as they seem unnecessary, but here too many people complain about excluding some dictators.

It's a great show about some of the darkest people ever ruled and they hopefully will do another season where more people are added (yes, including Winnie the Pooh).

But giving it 2 or 3 just because China was left out seems weird. The reason to rate and review a show is much more than just 1 part wasn't in it...

Zidong mao isWhere is the evil mao? Forgotten. He was mortified. I feel disappointed.

I dont really understand the negative comments screaming why no China, no Pol Pot, etc. This is a limited series and there are many tyrants out there... The series tried to portray at least one dictator for each continent in its six episodes. Putin is not featured either, why no one is complaining?? Maybe they will do another season for other dictators?

This is a documentary made for general audience who may not be experts on certain countries or parts of history. It also chooses to use a lighter tone for a very depressing and dark topic. Forget about the haters, keep an open mind and I think you would enjoy the series much more.

People who said why the show didn't include US are absolutely pathetic I lived under a tyranny calle Mubarak and now under another tyranny called SiSi in Egypt and what we see here in Egypt is absolutely hell I live now in US and feeling angry from the people who said "oh, our government is not democratic our president is tyranny" STFU what you see from your government is far away from tyranny.

Interesting and informative series with great animations. But the voice of Peter Dinklage completes it. Fun watch!

The series does an excellent job of recounting historical events, and most of all conveying them into what feels like a delightfully twisted, and fun introduction to Tyranny101. Season 2 is greatly anticipated.

No China are you kidding me? What are you trying to say Netflix??

I watched 2 episodes so far, attractive but unfortunately full of lies and inaccurate information.

When I lesson to what I believe 100% inaccurate story about an event, that would make me fully doubt about each and every other story which I don't have a clue about or I have not hear about previously.

I think the huge deficiency in this series is in the type of the people have been interviewed to talk about the events who are either ignorants or liers or very good at fulictional narration.

Bottom line ;they are non-creditable and unobjective.

History has always fascinated me especially in light of recent events in the US such as the insurrection. The subject matter of dictators and their actions is inherently dark. That's why I appreciate that this series used a "textbook" of how to be the best dictator. By doing this, it is far more entertaining and the viewer feels that they are learning not just history, but how and why dictators are so successful.

Each episode is slightly different in examining how tyrants monitor and control their citizens, but all of them appeal to the underlying emotions their citizens feel. Most often, they speak about struggles that have existed for millennia like social hierarchy, religious discrimination or race. In actuality, all dictators or tyrants are narcissists who manipulate the world around them to achieve their own goals. They know that by proclaiming they can solve the country's debt or by blaming a scapegoat their goal is one step closer to achievement.

How to Become a Tyrant is not a historical series, but rather a psychological one. Peter Dinklage's humorous tone rarely recounts factual exploits, but stories that reveal what motivates a terrifying leader. It's simple: power and glory. Genocide, rape and the endless gratuitous violence were all methods to remain in power no matter the cost. Dinklage does an excellent job of making them sound like small men desperate for attention and adoration from everyone around them.

Unfortunately, there were some key leadership figures that were omitted. Some include Mao Zedong and Vladimir Putin. I do not know if this is because some of these people are alive, but I hope that at some point their own narcissistic needs can be examined. Some of the stories described in the series were absolutely hilarious due to their ridiculousness.

I highly recommend the series. The negative reviews do not represent the show well and I found it to be enlightening. Thank you for reading this review.

I enjoyed it a lot, watching it while working/studying at the same time. But that's only possible because this fast paced and interesting series is shallow at the same time. If you have at least some knowledge about WWII, you already know more than this series will tell you. It's short, too fast, superficial and is only a success if it motivates you to look more into it, by reading a serious book.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't give it a watch. I'm just saying that you shouldn't stop after this. Use it as a stepping stone for something that has more depth.

Not a bad watch at all, you'll learn something new here and there that you probably didn't knew. Definitely recommend a watch if you're into these kind of stuff.

I liked it but there are missing some tyrant like Bush for example.

I kept waiting for an episode on Mao and China. But crickets.

What are you telling us Netflix?

Like so many works of historical documentary that pretend to be generic, it peripheralizes history of the East. How about Mao Zedong? Polpot? Mao got a few seconds mention for the famine but his impact on modern China should be considered an impact on the world at large today.

Sui generis series on the most powerful dictatorships abd the Herculean villains of the modern history .. how they defined their brutal practices, the odiousness, their rule and regime and their control and sustainability... what were the common denominators amongst these fascists... Well-balanced melange of the subject and gist, succinct bullet points facts, efficacious animation at places, lucid references.....the 30+ playbook rules .. a MUST MUST see series..

Haha. I am Chinese and I had a good time watching it! It is a meaningful show in some ways.

Well, it is cute to see everybody is shouting about " where is Mao!!", but actually Xi is more horrible now, he FITS EVERYTHING in this series. Young generations hate him including myself.

But, we all know, there are TWO elephants in the room. While watching the episode of North Korea's development of nuclear weapons, I was wondering why it did not talk about THAT country also the ONLY country that dropped nuclear bombs on civilians. Also, why not talk about how much terrorism the US government has funded? And why did the Korean Peninsula become like this with the US pushing behind?

Come on, Netflix, be a big boy, talk about the real things. Hope there will be season 2. (^_^)

This series is very relevant to our historical moment. Many fill their mouths to give their opinion of the Internet without studying anything at all, and this series could be a first step. Of course there are a lot of simplifications, but the real story is there. I missed other dictators and other countries like Venezuela, Cuba and China. I look forward to a second season.

The best thing about this series is the narrator: Peter Dinklage. Overall pretty informative. Hopefully there'll more seasons in future. Decent job.

The Trump implication is definitely there even if they don't mention him by name. They absolutely took pains to draw the parallels. I'm sure he was the main impetus for creating such a series.

Also, to the idiot who said they just swapped out the words "Biden" and "Democrats" for "Hitler," that's the opposite of a tyrant, genius. Tyrants lead by creating a cult of personality: "I, ALONE, can fix it." Sound familiar?

I have read a lot of history on WW2, and I'm particular Stalin and Hitler. I work professionally with security policy, which means working on tyrants is something I do a lot.

There's a lot of criticism here over Mao and Pol Pot being omitted. Obviously a very valid point. Millions were murdered on the orders of these tyrants. Furthermore, simplifications and selective presentations. Yes, a series on Stalin alone would have required tens or hundreds of hours. But this series doesn't offer a full psychological portrait of anyone, rather using their "merits" as illustrations.

However, what I actually did enjoy, was the breakdown of the various elements needed to become, and remain, a tyrant. In many cases, the master plan might not have been so sinister and well through through. However, these were still the results.

It was a novel way of presenting the Master Plan, and certainly also very recognizable for any history buff.

Lastly, I was surprised to find that a Peter Dinklage has such a perfect narrator voice.

An excellent, funny and educational synopsis of the 20th century tyrants. It was nearly perfect but for some reason they completely and I mean completely forgot to mention China's dictator!

It's a well put together miniseries, and it's interesting to see footage and animations re-enacting all the tyrannical rises of power.

It's clearly meant for mass American audiences, who may have a very insular concept of history and gepolitics. It overly explains points and skips over other issues - like CIA involvement in many of these countries.

Outside of historical gaps (like Gadaffi & Hussein revolutions were both instigated by US & UK intelligence agencies), the show really panders to the lowest common denominator in terms of the narration script and visual effects.

It's a good show to absorb in the background as you do other things, but the "playbook" concept is a bit silly.

Seriously, this documentary is not spending much time on important details. Skipping over relevant questions, like the ideology used by the particular dictators to justify their doing in the eyes of the population.

Also very swiftly avoiding to mention the involvement of Western powers in the development of that tyrants.

Also, why not started with the prototype of the modern tyrant, Robespiere?

I am about to teach WWII to secondary students. I found this documentary series really useful in helping me prepare for a lesson on being aware the warning signs we are heading for dictatorship with the ultimate goal being for students to value and protect their ability to be critical thinkers, understand propaganda, value civil liberties such as freedom of speech, the right of assembly/protest, free press, the importance of the separation of powers (the judiciary's ability to nullify legislation that is ultra vires). AND TO NEVER EVER VILIFY THE OTHER (scapegoating!) because we are all equal.

Loved Dinklage's dulcet tones as the narrator.

Yes Mao and others are missing. But this is a ripper overview of the strategies employed by tyrants.