In this wide-ranging study of leadership, Correlli Barnett examines the strengths and weaknesses of twenty leaders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He examines how the difficulties they faced and the political and strategic backgrounds of their days and analyses how they performed and what they achieved. Were they successful, or were they beaten down by the burden of their roles? This book considers men from very different backgrounds and from three continents in a range of modern wars from the American Civil War to the Second World War. The author begins his study with an essay on Napoleon Bonaparte who created a myth of successful leadership when, in fact, he was a failure. ILLUSTRATIONS: 8pp b/w photos
