Personality and Power

Informationen zum Autor Ian Kershaw , author of To Hell and Back , The End, Fateful Choices, and Making Friends with Hitler, is a British historian of twentieth-century Germany noted for his monumental biographies of Adolf Hitler. In 2002, he received his knighthood for services to history. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bonn, Germany. Klappentext One of New York Magazine 's Most Anticipated Books of the Fall How 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 despotsand 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 profilesfrom 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. Leseprobe 1 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Revolutionary Leader, Founder of the Bolshevik State The immense upheaval created by the First World War had, among its many far-reaching consequences, one which was to reverberate throughout Europe, and in the world beyond, for over seven decades: the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. And at the centre of that earth-shaking event stood Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known to history by the pseudonym he had adopted around 1902: Lenin. Lenin has a strong claim to be at the forefront, or very close to it, of any parade of makers of Europe's twentieth century. Yet to state the claim raises obvious questions. How far did an event (and its lasting impact) of such magnitude as the Russian Revolution depend upon a single individual? What was Lenin's personal contribution to the establishment, consolidation and lasting impact of Bolshevik rule? After all, he was not even the most dynamic revolutionary driving force in Russia at the time. That was Leon Trotsky, who has been described as 'a revolutionary genius'. And Lenin was dead by the end of January 1924, after just over six years in power, in the last fifteen months or so of which he was largely incapacitated by a series of strokes. What did he do personally to direct the revolutionary reshaping of Russia, and how could he ensure that his policies were carried out in such a vast country - larger than the rest of Europe put together? Why did Lenin, in any case, turn out to be the leader of the revolution that changed Russian and European history? It was not as if he stood alone in his determination to transform Russia. The disaffection with Tsarist rule and spread of Marxism in the Russian empire from the 1880s onwards had spawned many would-be revolutionaries, some of them significant figures in the numerous subversive political factions and groupings that sprang up. What was special about Lenin? How and why did he emerge to gain accep...

Autorentext
Ian Kershaw, author of To Hell and Back, The End, Fateful Choices, and Making Friends with Hitler, is a British historian of twentieth-century Germany noted for his monumental biographies of Adolf Hitler. In 2002, he received his knighthood for services to history. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bonn, Germany.

Klappentext
One of New York Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of the Fall

How 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.

Leseprobe
1

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Revolutionary Leader,
Founder of the Bolshevik State

The immense upheaval created by the First World War had, among its many far-reaching consequences, one which was to reverberate throughout Europe, and in the world beyond, for over seven decades: the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. And at the centre of that earth-shaking event stood Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known to history by the pseudonym he had adopted around 1902: Lenin.

Lenin has a strong claim to be at the forefront, or very close to it, of any parade of makers of Europe's twentieth century. Yet to state the claim raises obvious questions. How far did an event (and its lasting impact) of such magnitude as the Russian Revolution depend upon a single individual? What was Lenin's personal contribution to the establishment, consolidation and lasting impact of Bolshevik rule? After all, he was not even the most dynamic revolutionary driving force in Russia at the time. That was Leon Trotsky, who has been described as 'a revolutionary genius'. And Lenin was dead by the end of January 1924, after just over six years in power, in the last fifteen months or so of which he was largely incapacitated by a series of strokes. What did he do personally to direct the revolutionary reshaping of Russia, and how could he ensure that his policies were carried out in such a vast country - larger than the rest of Europe put together?

Why did Lenin, in any case, turn out to be the leader of the revolution that changed Russian and European history? It was not as if he stood alone in his determination to transform Russia. The disaffection with Tsarist rule and spread of Marxism in the Russian empire from the 1880s onwards had spawned many would-be revolutionaries, some of them significant figures in the numerous subversive political factions and groupings that sprang up. What was special about Lenin? How and why did he emerge to gain acceptance as the dominant revolutionary leader? What personality traits …

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