A razor-sharp analysis of the increasing – and terrifying – parallels between Trump’s America and Putin’s Russia, Despots is Sixsmith’s account of how two aspiring dictators came to power in nominally electoral democracies. They then dismantled the pillars of democracy from within, one following confidently in the footsteps of the other.

As in Putin’s Russia, so in Trump’s America: the US is fast-forwarding through what Russia endured in the first five years under Putin, and the parallels this time are much clearer, more overt and increasingly terrifying.

Martin is the BBC’s former Moscow and Washington correspondent, and now a best-selling author, presenter and journalist. Daniel, his co-author, has degrees in history and Russian studies, and has worked as an archaeologist in Siberia and Kazahstan.