One of the great historians of our age asks: how far can a single leader alter the course of
history? The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying
array of instruments of control persuasion and death. Whole societies were re-shaped and wars
fought often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms. At the summit of these
societies were leaders whose personalities had somehow given them the ability to do whatever
they wished. Ian Kershaw's new book is a compelling lucid and challenging attempt to
understand these rulers whether operating on the widest stage (Lenin Stalin Hitler
Mussolini) or with a more national impact (Tito Franco). What was it about these leaders and
the times they lived in that allowed them such untrammelled and murderous power? And what
brought that era to an end? In a contrasting group of profiles from Churchill to de Gaulle
Adenauer to Gorbachev and Thatcher to Kohl Kershaw uses his exceptional skills to think
through how other strikingly different figures wielded power.
