Four authors. Four dictators. A world, changed beyond recognition. ENGINEERS OF HUMAN SOULS is an intimate and shocking shadow of the history of creative vanity in an era that transformed writers - once loyal servants of power - into figures of political significance. Maurice Barrès, the first to use the politics of identity. Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose poetry became a blueprint for fascism. Maxim Gorky, playwright of the working class and supporter of Stalin. Maoist Ding Ling, whose stories acquit the regime that imprisoned her. All four cultivated outrageous visions of the future and believed that they were vital to their realization. Each was brought to the center of political action. Each established a dangerous and destructive relationship with a ruthless dictator. When writers and rulers find each other useful, the consequences can be shocking for all of us. These stories - of courage and compromise, vanity and malevolence - speak urgently of the unchecked power of words.