By Michael Roberts
July 10, 2014
Gustavus Adolphus (1594--1632) dominated his age: he made Sweden the leading power of Northern Europe, was the principal upholder of the Protestant cause in the Thirty Years War, and was a great administrator as well as a brilliant soldier. His toleration and reforms helped define the development ...
By John Turner
March 07, 1994
Harold Macmillan presided over the dissolution of the British Empire and the first stages of irreversible economic decline. It was an unlucky end to a political career which had seen Britain's steady extinction as a Great Power, and his reputation will depend on how posterity judges his ...
By James Babb
June 11, 2014
Kakuei Tanaka was the most powerful politician in Japan for nearly two decades, and his followers have dominated Japanese politics for most of the country's recent history. This account of the life and times of Tanaka explores the public profile and private power-broking of a controversial and ...
By A.M. Claydon
June 11, 2014
William III, William of Orange (1650-1702), is a key figure in English history. Grandson of Charles I and married to Mary, eldest daughter of James II, the pair became the object of protestant hopes after James lost the throne. Though William was personally unpopular - his continental ...
By Ian Kershaw
June 06, 2014
Adolf Hitler has left a lasting mark on the twentieth-century, as the dictator of Germany and instigator of a genocidal war, culminating in the ruin of much of Europe and the globe. This innovative best-seller explores the nature and mechanics of Hitler's power, and how he used it....
By Martin Clark
June 06, 2014
Benito Mussolini was a brilliant Socialist journalist who in 1914 declared war, put himself at the head if the anti-Socialist movement in Italy, manoeuvred himself into power by 1933 and ruled the country until overthrown in 1943. He was a dynamic but insecure personality, who appeared dictatorial ...
By Geoffrey Ellis
June 06, 2014
This invaluable account provides an excellent introduction to the nature and mechanics of Napoleon's power, and how he used it. It explores Napoleon's rise to fame as a soldier of the French Revolution and his aims and achievements as first consul and emperor during the years 1799-1815. ...
By Martin Pugh
January 21, 2014
An up-to-date synthesis and original interpretation of Lloyd George's life, personality and political career. This study challenges the traditional view of Lloyd George as an outsider in British politics, explains the political, economic and social achievements of his career and his role in ...
By Katharine Lerman
January 14, 2014
How did Bismarck, Germany’s greatest nineteenth century leader, extend and maintain his power? This new Profile examines his strengths as statesman and all the facets of his political career. His many direct achievements included the unification of Germany and the expansion of Prussia. In short, he...
By Andrew Shennan
January 14, 2014
If any modern democratic leader has believed in the "great man'' theory of history and acted self-consciously in accordance with it, it was surely de Gaulle. On both occasions when he came to power it was in his own right, as a ``providential figure'', not as the representative of a political or ...
By Hiroaki Kuromiya
November 03, 2005
This profile looks at how Stalin, despite being regarded as intellectually inferior by his rivals, managed to rise to power and rule the largest country in the world, achievieving divine-like status as a dictator. Through recently uncovered research material and Stalin’s archives in Moscow, ...
By P G. Boyle
November 22, 2004
Eisenhower is the president who established America as a superpower. He had already launched his reputation as the leading US military figure in the Second World War and then as supreme commander of the land forces of the newly created NATO. This book looks at how Eisenhower ...