Summary
Ian Kershaw: Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe
To what extent can one leader change the course of history? The modern era bears witness to the emergence of individuals at the head of European states who often had unlimited power in their hands and did what they wanted, regardless of the consequences, but also those who contributed to the bright future of the continent with their vision. Ian Kersh's new book is a compelling, incisive and inspired attempt to understand these rulers, both those who operated on the world stage and those whose influence was more limited to the states they ruled. What was it about them and the time in which they lived that allowed them to often have unfettered power in their hands? And what brought that era to an end? Kershaw examines different types of characters, from Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Churchill and De Gaulle, through Adenauer, Frank and the always interesting Tito to Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher and Kohl. Drawing on his exceptional knowledge as an eminent historian, he explores how personalities who were very different from each other wielded power.
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