THE SHADOWS OF ELISA LYNCH
by Si‰n Rees
Review, £14.99, pp. 343, ISBN 0755311140

Before television producers finally concede that the 'Top-20' format is exhausted, I predict that we shall have a Friday evening dedicated to the world's 20 most peculiar dictators and that Paraguayans will feature strongly.

Take Dr Francia, who had all prostitutes adorn themselves with golden combs, or his successor, Carlos Lopez, a grossly fat man who liked to show his mood by his choice of hat. During important meetings a servant might be signalled to whisk off his white hat and replace it with a black one, filling his guests with foreboding.

But the man who dominates these two books is Lopez's son and successor, Francisco. Fatter even than his father - someone described him as 'a tidal wave of human flesh' - Lopez is notable for embroiling his country in a disastrous war against three of its neighbours, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

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