"Charles Dunst's 'aspirational' book about how democracies can do a better job of competing with autocracies is bursting with statistics and lots of common sense." –Charles Kaiser, The Guardian

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"Charles Dunst's new book [...] offers a programme for revitalisation of troubled democracies. At a time when much rhetoric in the US is focused on the international arena, Dunst is surely right to emphasise the importance of democratic regeneration at home." –Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

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"Defeating the Dictators is a creative and thought-provoking book bolstered by well-researched statistics, potent anecdotes, and a slate of high-profile endorsements from defenders of democracy on both sides of the aisle[.] [...] It provides a welcome, mostly optimistic take on a subject characterized by too much recent pessimism."

–Matthew Kroenig and Danielle Miller, Foreign Policy

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"A rare book. [...] Dunst's writing is as sharp as his argument is necessary." –U.S. Senator Chris Coons 

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"Remarkable. A thoughtful and perceptive book."

–U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt

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"People everywhere who care about freedom should read this book." –LTG H. R. McMaster (ret.), former U.S. National Security Advisor

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"No one knows the world like Dunst. [...] His how-to manual on fighting autocracy and strengthening democracy is indispensable reading." –U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper

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"Important." –Simon Tisdall, The Observer

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"Full of true claims, common sense, and a needed dose of optimism." –Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

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"A powerful and compelling blueprint for democracies."

–Lucy Fisher, Whitehall Editor at the Financial Times

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"Dunst makes a convention-busting argument 'for democracies to beat autocracy [...] by learning to perform and deliver for our people once again.' It’s undoubtedly a tall order, but it is perhaps the most essential part of the democracy equation."

–Jason Miklian, The Boston Globe