Personality and power (Penguin LCC US)

From one of the leading historians of twentieth-century Europe and the author of the definitive biography of Hitler, a masterful reckoning with how personality conspired with opportunity to create the modern age s uniquely devastating despots, and how and why other countries were able to find a better pathThe 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 men 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 men 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 (Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Gorbachev, Thatcher, Kohl), Kershaw uses his exceptional skills to explore how strikingly different figures wielded power.