Hitler and Stalin. Two tyrants, two sides of the same coin. The bestselling historian on the dramatic wartime relationship - and shocking similarities - between the dictators.

Hitler led with charisma, Stalin ruled with fear; where Hitler was steadfast in his decisions, Stalin moved and shifted like a Machiavellian.

The two tyrants were bitter opponents, leading Germany and the Soviet Union in the biggest and bloodiest war in history, yet they were strikingly similar. Both men were prepared to create undreamt-of suffering, both men aimed to destroy individual liberty, and both men twisted fact to build their dark utopias.

Bestselling historian Laurence Rees is probably the only person alive who has met those who worked for the dictators. Using previously unpublished, startling eyewitness testimony from soldiers, civilians and those who knew both men personally, Rees challenges long-held popular misconceptions about two of the most significant - and terrible - figures in history.

'Laurence Rees brilliantly combines powerful eye-witness testimony, vivid narrative and compelling analysis in this superb account of how two terrible dictators led their countries in the most destructive and inhumane war in history' Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler - Hubris and Hitler - Nemesis