Leadership

One of America´s most legendary diplomats finds the soul in statecraft in these enlightening sketches of world leaders. . . . Kissinger infuses his lucid policy analyses with colorful firsthand observations. . . . Kissinger´s portraits of politicians spinning weakness and defeat into renewed strength are captivating. This is a vital study of power in action. Publishers Weekly The 99-year-old Kissinger has written what purports to be a handbook for the leaders of today and tomorrow, built around six portraits of global figures from the second half of the 20th century: Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher. Kissinger draws interesting parallels between them. All six lives were shaped by what he calls the Second Thirty Years War - the period of global conflict from 1914 to 1945. ... Kissinger knew them all and enlivens his text with accounts of his own interactions with the leaders and those around them. ... informed and authoritative Jeremy Cliffe, New Statesman They all triumphed over their modest starts in life, through their great ability and drive, to reach the pinnacle of power. All of his six subjects, Kissinger argues, show that "transformative leadership" by great people matters more than impersonal forces in shaping history. Phillips O’Brien, The Times authoritative... given the pitiful state of leadership in the western world today, a few of those already in high office would lose nothing except, perhaps, their idiocy by reading it. Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph