Personality and Power

Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe

Ian Kershaw

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English

Allen Lane
05 December 2023

History; History: theory & methods; European history; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Political science & theory; Political leaders & leadership

The acclaimed historian explores how far individual leaders can 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.

By: Ian Kershaw
Imprint: Allen Lane
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 126mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 340g
ISBN: 9780141998237
ISBN 10: 0141998237
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 05 December 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , College/higher education , Undergraduate , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ian Kershaw is the author of Hitler 1889-1936- Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945- Nemesis, which received the Wolfson Literary Award for History and the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for the Political Book of the Year, and was joint winner of the inaugural British Academy Book Prize. His other books include Making Friends with Hitler, which won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography; Fateful Choices; The End; and his histories of modern Europe, To Hell and Back and Roller-Coaster.

Reviews for Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe

Illuminating ... an insightful series of essays about 12 exceptional leaders who stood at the centre of Europe's 20th century. -- Philip Stephens * Financial Times * Few historians are better qualified to answer these questions than Ian Kershaw ... As always, he proves a splendid miniaturist, expertly sketching personalities and philosophies in a few coolly judged lines ... If Kershaw's book has a contemporary lesson, it is that societies are probably happiest and healthiest when leaders matter least. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times * Sir Ian Kershaw, the great (in both senses) biographer of Adolf Hitler, makes an important contribution to this debate ... persuasive and nuanced pen-portraits ... well-researched, well-written and thought-provoking. -- Andrew Roberts * Daily Telegraph * Lucid portraits of the leaders who shaped Europe's 20th century ... There is much to be admired in Kershaw's cogent and astute analysis. -- Orlando Figes * The Observer *