IN THE MIND OF...

How today's authoritarian leaders think, and why democracy is losing ground

Democracies rarely collapse overnight anymore. Today, they are more likely to erode from within. Authoritarian leaders no longer seize power through coups: they win elections, exploit institutional weaknesses and gradually reshape the rules in their favour.

Why do leaders as different as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin,Xi Jinping, Giorgia Meloni, Javier Milei, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,Nayib Bukele and Marine Le Pen succeed despite their profoundly different ideologies?

Blending vivid storytelling with rigorous political analysis,Franco Delle Donne reconstructs the defining moments,intellectual influences and personal ambitions that shaped today's most influential authoritarian leaders. Through pivotal scenes, historical context and geopolitical analysis, he reveals not only how these leaders think, but the recurring patterns behind their rise to power.
More than a collection of political profiles, In the Mind of...
combines narrative and analysis to reveal the recurring logic behind today's authoritarian leaders, offering an accessible framework for understanding one of the defining political transformations of the twenty-first century.

Where biography meets geopolitics: a compelling blend of narrative
storytelling and political analysis that takes readers inside the thinking of the leaders reshaping today's world .