History – Seizing power/centralizing power

Your question is super interesting because there’s a bunch of different ways you could take it, but two reads i really enjoyed came to mind off the top of my head. One is R.R. Palmer’s *Twelve Who Ruled* which is about the leaders during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. The book, fittingly, follows the twelve men who ruled France as the Committee of Public Safety, and really focused on how the CPS gradually gained power and asserted itself as *the* executive body of France during the year of terror, transforming France from a rapidly increasingly democratic state into essentially a dictatorship. The book was published in 1941, but the scholarship remains remarkably up to date and it’s a super easy and engaging read. Even if you don’t know much about the French Revolution, if you know the basics (overthrow the king -> guillotine), you’ll be able to follow the story.

The second recommendation that came to mind which is maybe a little less directly what you’ve asked for, but something you might enjoy nonetheless, is Robert Paxton’s *Anatomy of Fascism*. The book doesn’t focus on any one leader or place specifically, but Paxton’s concern is largely trying to define fascism. In doing so, he spends the majority of the book (all but maybe 2 chapters) focusing on how fascist movements emerge, how those leaders come to power, and how that power becomes consolidated. It’s a pretty quick read, just over 200 pages in super readable prose. Even Paxton is largely concerned about finding historical trends, rather than examining a person that came to power, I think based on your question you’d really enjoy the book.