Further to Daniel Kalder's Dictator-lit blog, perhaps we should have paid more attention to Colonel Gaddafi the short story writer, as his work turns out to be uncannily prophetic.

In a collection published in English as Escape to Hell (1998) - all described as stories, though reviewers felt most were polemical or confessional musings - the title piece includes the following passage: "How cruel humans can be when they become a tyrannical mob, a torrent that has no mercy on those who stand in its way, that does not listen for cries of help. The tyranny of a single man is the most tolerable of tyrannies; after all, he is just one man and can be removed from power in a single blow. The tyranny of the mob is far worse, for who can stand in the face of the torrent's overwhelming power?

"I love the freedom of the masses; I adore those who have smashed their shackles after years of suffering. But I also feel apprehensive about them. When happy and content, the masses are full of compassion, and they put their chosen on a pedestal: Hannibal, Pericles, Savonarola, Danton, Robespierre, Mussolini, Nixon. But how cruel the masses become when they are enraged: they hemlocked Hannibal, burned Savonarola at the stake, guillotined Danton, broke Robespierre's jaw, dragged Mussolini's corpse through the streets, and spat in Nixon's face when he left the White House."

Has any dictator ever foreseen his (or her) fate more clearly? Over to you.