One of New York Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of the FallHow far can a single leader alter
the course of history? From one of the leading historians of twentieth-century Europe and the
author of the definitive biography of Hitler Personality and Power is a masterful reckoning
with how character conspired with opportunity to create the modern age’s uniquely devastating
despots—and how and why other countries found better paths. 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 reshaped and wars were fought often with a merciless contempt for
the most basic norms. At the summit of these societies were leaders whose personalities somehow
enabled them to do whatever they wished regardless of the consequences for others. Ian
Kershaw’s new book is a compelling lucid and challenging attempt to understand these rulers
whether those 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 in which they
lived 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 as an iconic historian to explore how
strikingly different figures wielded power.
