"He was disciplined and fit, a practitioner of judo, and he inspired hope and confidence among Russians still reeling from so much political change and economic adversity," Clinton says, before adding. "But he also proved over time to be thin-skinned and autocratic, resenting criticism and eventually cracking down on dissent and debate, including a free press and NGOs."

"of the most eccentric, cruel, and unpredictable autocrats in the world."

"In my eyes, Qaddafi was a criminal and a terrorist who could never be trusted," Clinton writes, detailing his long history.

It seems possible that Clinton has some sympathy for Berlusconi, who was convicted of fraud after quitting Italian office. (The other possibility – that Clinton may want to avoid offending Berlusconi in case he enters office again – is more worrying.)

"Most leaders are quieter than they appear to be on the stage," Clinton writes. "Not Sarkozy. He was even more dramatic – and fun – in person."
Intriguingly, she notes that Sarkozy loved to gossip about other world leader, and told her one was a "drug-addled maniac" (sadly, Clinton doesn't reveal who). Later, Clinton describes how he was influenced in his thoughts on intervention in Libya by "the French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy who had hitched a ride in a vegetable truck from the Egyptian border to see for himself what was happening."