Hardly. Genghis Khan was barbaric. Allen was cold and calculating and utterly without compassion for anyone. He is a perfect illustration of the end regions of the narcissism that underpins our society.

There was a piece in the Times about his slow descent into serial murder. He attempted to keep his life together with some success at first - but like all narcissists, when the "narcissistic supply" was used up, that is, when the people in his life got sick of his self-serving games, he moved on and moved on and moved on again - spiraling downward until finally all he was left with was the rage of self-recognition. The worst enemy of the narcissist is the mirror.

He could have been any of us.