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The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age Kindle Edition

by Archie Brown (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 298 ratings
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From one of the world's preeminent political historians, a magisterial study of political leadership around the world from the advent of parliamentary democracy to the age of Obama.

All too frequently, leadership is reduced to a simple dichotomy: the strong versus the weak. Yet, there are myriad ways to exercise effective political leadership -- as well as different ways to fail. We blame our leaders for economic downfalls and praise them for vital social reforms, but rarely do we question what makes some leaders successful while others falter. In this magisterial and wide-ranging survey of political leadership over the past hundred years, renowned Oxford politics professor Archie Brown challenges the widespread belief that strong leaders -- meaning those who dominate their colleagues and the policy-making process -- are the most successful and admirable.

In reality, only a minority of political leaders will truly make a lasting difference. Though we tend to dismiss more collegial styles of leadership as weak, it is often the most cooperative leaders who have the greatest impact. Drawing on extensive research and decades of political analysis and experience, Brown illuminates the achievements, failures and foibles of a broad array of twentieth century politicians. Whether speaking of redefining leaders like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Margaret Thatcher, who expanded the limits of what was politically possible during their time in power, or the even rarer transformational leaders who played a decisive role in bringing about systemic change -- Charles de Gaulle, Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela, among them -- Brown challenges our commonly held beliefs about political efficacy and strength.

Overturning many of our assumptions about the twentieth century's most important figures, Brown's conclusions are both original and enlightening. The Myth of the Strong Leader compels us to reassess the leaders who have shaped our world - and to reconsider how we should choose and evaluate those who will lead us into the future.
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  1. Print length
    482 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Basic Books
  5. Publication date
    April 8, 2014
  6. File size
    1269 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Oxford politics scholar Brown (The Rise and Fall of Communism, 2009) examines the nature of political leadership and challenges the notion that so-called strong leaders are the most effective. Even in a democracy, he suggests, we the people often prefer to hand executive power to charismatic, opinionated, sometimes even aggressive individuals, who dominate other policy-makers to achieve their agendas. But setting leaders above and apart from the ruling group as a whole makes leaders prone to vanity and self-deception and, in antagonizing other policy-makers, sets daunting obstacles in even the most driven leader’s path. Such has been the case for many U.S. presidents whose ambitious agendas were ultimately thwarted by Congress or the Supreme Court. Those political leaders who are best able to effect dramatic change may be those who, like Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping, understood the importance of collegiality and collaboration even as they transformed the systems that brought them to power. Reviewing and categorizing dozens of heads of state past and present, Brown raises important questions about the nature of leadership and the expectations we have for our leaders. --Brendan Driscoll

Review

"...an important and unusual read ... Brown does a wonderful job of showing how the same qualities that can seem so appealing in strong leaders can lead, in the mildest cases, to bad decision-- and, in the most extreme cases, to death and suffering on a massive scale ... Though The Myth of the Strong Leader is about political leadership, you come away from Brown's book with a deeper understanding of leadership in general."―Bill Gates' Favorite Books of 2016

"Counter-intuitive but splendidly argued ... This is an ambitious work made more compelling by its breadth."―Washington Post

"Rich and multidimensional."―Foreign Affairs

"It is a pleasure to find a book on political leadership that imposes no theories or models but studies actual political leaders, dozens of them from many countries, in a historical survey from the beginning of the 20th century."―Wall Street Journal

"A rich description of different varieties of political leadership in diverse cultures. It is hard to imagine a better guide than Brown, who has lived and worked in the UK, US and Russia, and is both an outstanding political scholar and an elegant, witty writer."―Guardian (UK)

"Persuasive analysis of politically leadership."―Independent (UK)

"Impressive in scope and sophistication, Brown offers a model of leadership that is both strong and purpose driven."―Choice

"A sure-handed historical review with an engaging viewpoint."―Kirkus

"Rich in historical detail and insight."―Publishers Weekly

"Brown raises important questions about the nature of leadership and the expectations we have for our leaders."―Booklist

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XKQ52TV
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 1st edition (April 8, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 8, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1269 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 482 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0465027660
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 298 ratings

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Archie Brown

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
298 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating review of 20th century history
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017
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The book starts with a simple statement which to me was only obvious after I had read it: concentrating power in a “strong leader” means allocating it arbitrarily to the leader’s personal assistants.

Because no single human can cope with the increased volume of information and decisions - despite the myths these “strong leaders” like to perpetuate about themselves - the decisions get made by the close staff of these leaders.

This leaves out the other people who should have led on these decisions, eg cabinet members who are of higher calibre and expertise and experience than the advisers.

Furthermore, more discussion with more people gets better decisions. This is obvious with the likes of Hitler, Mussolini, Mao and Stalin as leaders who accumulated power. But the book is full of examples of other leaders to make the case.

I wish history at schools was taught about these leaders and events, the 20th century is about more than Hitler but sadly that’s too often all children are taught about.

I don’t know that the author’s case is conclusively proven - it’s hard to make this into a scientific argument. But it’s fascinating to read and - especially as the author dislikes Tony Blair greatly - to read it in light of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership style. A really enjoyable and thoughtful book.
5 people found this helpful
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Ian Murray
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard work but a rewarding read
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2020
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Very complete work which is hard work but rewarding. An excellent breakdown on the various ways one can judge leadership. I would recommend it be read by anybody thinking about a political or business career.
One person found this helpful
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Tess
5.0 out of 5 stars New point of view on leadership
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2022
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Loved the honest and true information shared
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Amit Gupta
5.0 out of 5 stars Autocratic leaders almost always fail at some point with disastrous ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2017
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Autocratic leaders almost always fail at some point with disastrous consequences for themselves as well as the people they lead. Consensus builders achieve lasting results. The book is a history lesson on how leaders of 20th and 21st century shaped the world that we live in today.
3 people found this helpful
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Les Stahlke
5.0 out of 5 stars I like this book because I'm such a fan of collaborative ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2017
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I like this book because I'm such a fan of collaborative leadership. This book shows why authoritarian leadership is not helpful and not even strong.
One person found this helpful
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John Gibbs
4.0 out of 5 stars Strong leaders might not be good leaders
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2014
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The idea that the more power one individual leader wields, the more we should be impressed by that leader is an illusion. Where corners are cut because one leader is sure he knows best, problems follow, and they can be on a disastrous scale, according to Archie Brown in this book. The book examines the leadership styles of a large range of political leaders including dictators and democratic leaders.

The author’s essential thesis is that it is unhelpful to rate political leaders on a single strong-weak scale given that there are so many different dimensions to effective leadership, and indeed leaders who are unconstrained by others in making their decisions tend to make significantly poorer decisions. Mao Zedong was a better leader in the early days of the Chinese Communist Party than when he acquired a position of absolute power. Tony Blair made his poorest decisions when he made them without adequate discussion with others.

The book tells interesting stories about a very large number of political leaders from the past century. The author has a great deal of personal knowledge of many of those leaders, and the book is an excellent history book. However, it is hard to read the book without observing that the best leaders are rarely the ones who float to the top of the political process, whether in democracies or in dictatorships. The author has provided extensive material to demonstrate the dangers of the “strong” political leader, but the stories do not coalesce into a neat description of the characteristics of a “good” political leader.
39 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book. Definitely worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017
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Excellent book. Definitely worth reading.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Larry Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book About Leadership
Reviewed in Canada on January 2, 2021
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This was a Christmas present.
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Attila
5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable partner - good product - good postage
Reviewed in Germany on April 5, 2021
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Reliable partner - good product - good postage - the seller is highly recommended for everyone.
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Venkat
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on leadership
Reviewed in India on September 10, 2020
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A very good book on leadership. Excellent analysis comparing different types of leaders in modern times. Busts the myths of so called strong leaders and also shows how they can be a double edged sword
3 people found this helpful
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Matthieu
1.0 out of 5 stars Very, very bad
Reviewed in France on March 21, 2020
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Extremely disappointed by this poorly written book.
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Viviane Gurgel
3.0 out of 5 stars Ideia boa e demonstração frágil
Reviewed in Brazil on March 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
O mote do livro é muito interessante, mas sua evolução poderia contemplar mais exemplos e diferentes ambientes, incluindo as artes, o corporativo, o terceiro setor, religioso, instituições públicas, jurídico, acadêmico, etc, além do político. Uma obra que merece tradução para o português e quem sabe uma nova edição com exemplos mais variados.
2 people found this helpful
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