Fiction Edition - HOW TO FIGHT A DICTATOR
Inspired by @kishmish's nonfiction list (linked here). All suggestions for fiction set during real life dictatorships, depicting life under a dictatorship, or otherwise revolving around fictional narratives related to dictators, oppression, resistance, and authoritarian regimes are welcome!
created by ayzrules
last updated July, 2026
Comments
i would suggest The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, about female spies during WWI and WWII
ayzrulesOP
Ooooo this sounds like such an interesting book! Thank you, I’ve added it!
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh is really good!
ayzrulesOP
ooooo - thank you! added!
Also would you consider The Hunger Games or Sunrise on the Reaping for this list? Just curious if it'd fit
ayzrulesOP
Let me think about that after i'm done w/ social things tomorrow and get back to you!! i really appreciate you taking a look at the list :D!
Ofc!
So I’ve given it some thought and I’d say that I want to limit this list to things that took place in our real life history/timeline, and the hunger games books may be better suited to lists for dystopian fiction. HOWEVER I do think that Collins presents some really good and nuanced commentary, especially in a book aimed at younger readers, that absolutely parallel and underscore the general themes and narrative messages that are also present in this list!
That makes sense! That was my thought behind why it might not fit the list. Totally agree about Collins’ commentary
i see the book thief, i immediately know this list is going to be a good one!!
ayzrulesOP
that book is/was frickin everything to me
yesss it literally changed my childhood
literally same!! it was my whole personality for a whileeee
💯 the book that finally got me back into reading 13 years ago! I think about it all the time, genuinely.
Yes! Such a great addition to the conversation!
Definitely!!
I love this! 🫶🏽 I’ll actually hand off the one fiction from my list to you then, hahah: El Señor Presidente by Miguel Asturias. I was crowdsourcing in my personal life, and had a few other fiction recs from people there too: The Imperial Radch Trilogy and novellas by Ann Leckie, Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, and We by Zamyatin Yevgeny (I didn’t look into them too much because they didn’t seem to fit with what I was going for, though!)
ayzrulesOP
oooh wow thank you so much for all of this, i rly appreciate it :D! added!
Oop I tried to comment then it did not send. I saw in another comment that you wanted to keep dystopians separate and just wanna say I read We recently last year and it’s not historical fiction but rather a future dystopian (spaceships and all) like 1984 or Fahrenheit 451!
ayzrulesOP
Oh omg thank you for the heads up!!!
wolf by wolf by ryan graudin, the devil’s arithmetic by jane yolen, and if i should die before i wake by han nolan all fit here!!
wait also: ashes by kathryn lasky, code name verity by elizabeth wein and rose under fire by elizabeth wein!
ok sorry back with just one more for now (this was a niche i was extremely into as a teenager LOL): salt to the sea by ruta sepetys
ayzrulesOP
Omg no I was obsessed with this stuff in middle and high school too, I swear the book thief changed me on a fundamental level when I read it at age 11. Thank you SO much for these suggestions! 💗
Im nominating The Everlasting to this!
ayzrulesOP
!!! I’m excited to read that one! Does it take place in a second world (I seem to remember something from the blurb about that)?
You could say that...
Love this list, immediate save! The Out of the Hitler Time trilogy by Judith Kerr might fit, the books are semi-autobiographical. I actually read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit in school when I was 10 and it made a very profound impression on me. Didn't read the others though, but I they are supposed to be very good, too!
ayzrulesOP
Added them all, thanks so much for the recommendations!
Not me only realizing now that The Schindler's List is a book first 🤦♀️ I'm dumb. Thanks for this list!!
ayzrulesOP
Hahaha honestly i'm not sure which one came first, but it's nice that there's a book version either way! ❤️❤️❤️
The book was published in the 80's!
