In this eloquent book, world-famous therapist Dr. Alice Miller brings sharp focus on how widespread child abuse is, how evidence of abuse has been ignored, repressed, and dismissed, and how societal attitudes have made this devastating occurrence possible. Dr. Miller illuminates how the harm and hurt inflicted upon these victims can surface later in acts of self-destruction and brutal cruelty towards others. Vividly illustrating these points are fascinating psychohistorical analyses of such brutal tyrants as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Nicolae Ceausescu, showing the obvious links between the horrors of their childhoods and the horror they inflicted on the world.