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    The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age
    Unavailable
    The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age
    Unavailable
    The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age
    Audiobook17 hours

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

    Written by Archie Brown

    Narrated by Jonathan Cowley

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 14, 2017
    ISBN9780525498049
    Unavailable
    The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age
    Author

    Archie Brown

    Archie Brown is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University. With The Rise and Fall of Communism, he has won the W.J.M. Mackenzie Prize of the Political Studies Association of the UK for best political science book of the year for a second time. He also received that award for one of his earlier books, The Gorbachev Factor. He lives in England.

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    Reviews for The Myth of the Strong Leader

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    • 5/5
      Fascinating review of 20th century history

      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.
    • 4/5
      A polished exposition of the idea that a strong leader need not necessarily be a successful one. It gets a bit long-winded toward the middle, but the point is well made with examples from 19th and 20th century European and American political history. However, his contention that people seldom choose individual leaders is not that convincing, especially seeing the current situation in many parts of the world.