"It is practically unprecedented to take two such monsters as Hitler and Stalin, who never met, and interweave their lives chronologically, chapter by chapter, often paragraph by paragraph, as Bullock has done. It sounds like a recipe for confusion, irritation and indigestion. In fact, it works brilliantly. the book is a triumph of organisation, lucidity and perspective."

JOHN CAMBELL, 'The Times'

"A magnificent piece of historical writing which, despite its massive size, makes for compulsive reading. The sweep is broad and the information concisely conveyed without any sign of pedantry. The judgements are sane and balanced...The grasp of the biographical material is matched by a multitude of interpretations which are the mark of a master historian."

ZARA STEINER, 'Financial Times'

"A titanic narrative history...Bullock is a master-builder who constructs his edifice beautifully, underpinning the narrative mass with analytical supports to prevent the story collapsing into detail and burying the reader, Yet he can slow the momentum for a vivid vignette or apt quotation."

DAVID REYNOLDS, 'Independent on Sunday'

"A magnetic chronicling...which, by dint of its distillation of a vast amount of matter, and by virtue of its author's consummate powers of analysis and narrative, becomes a standard work from the very instant of publication."

MARTIN FAGG, 'TES'

"Lord Bullock has carried out to perfection an artistic revenge on Public Enemies Numbers One and Two. This enormous book is a fitting tombstone to their world."

ANDREW ROBERTS, 'Spectator'