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Of the thousands of commanders who served in history's armies, why is it that only a few are remembered as great leaders of men in battle? What combination of personal and circumstantial influences conspire to produce great commanders? What makes a great leader great? Richard A Gabriel analyses the biographies of ten great generals who lived between 1481 BC and AD 632 in an attempt to identify the characteristics of intellect, psychology, personality, and experience that allowed them to tread th...

Includes never-before-published letters from more than thirty American presidents. Provides rare insight into the personalities of leaders and the issues that affected them.

"Trump knew from early on that he who controls the story controls the world." Writer/director Robert Orlando, locked down during the Covid-19 pandemic, learned Citizen Kane was Trump's favorite film, and the parallels were astonishing. Both Kane and Trump are swaggering masters of media, and both claim to stand for the working man. "Orson Welles, the boy genius of Kane, was possessing me from the grave," states Orlando. In Orlando's acclaimed documentary Citizen Trump, we witness Trump, like...

HRH Prince Chula Chakrabongse, well known in his lifetime as an author and broadcaster, was in a uniquely favourable position for writing the history of the Royal House of Chakri, the current Thai royal dynasty. He had access to unpublished royal letters, archives and documents of all kinds and, as a grandson of King Chulalongkorn, he had personal knowledge of many of the leading figures in his story. Therefore he was able to give an authoritative and quite fascinating account of the monarchs wh...

When it comes to the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton are generally considered the great minds of early America. George Washington, instead, is toasted with accolades regarding his solid common sense and strength in battle. Indeed, John Adams once snobbishly dismissed him as "too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station and reputation." Yet Adams, as well as the majority of the men who knew Washington in his life, were unaware of his singular dev...

In this remarkably gripping memoir, one of the most dynamic and controversial leaders of modern times gives us a firsthand account of his years in office and beyond. Here, for the first time, Tony Blair recounts his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death to the war on terror. With rare honesty and courage, he recounts the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decision to go to war in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and, most controversially o...

Michael Wolff, author of the bombshell bestseller Fire and Fury, once again takes us inside the Trump presidency to reveal a White House under siege. Just one year into Donald Trump's term as president, Michael Wolff told the electrifying story of a White House consumed by controversy, chaos and intense rivalries. Fire and Fury, an instant sensation, defined the first phase of the Trump administration; now, in Siege, Wolff has written an equally essential and explosive book about a presidency t...

This is an engaging study of Lincoln and how he shaped a nation.'It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth' - Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, 1863.Lincoln's life, leadership qualities and achievements have made him a figurehead of American values, ranked as one of the greatest US presidents....

Major's early life was extraordinary; his rise through Parliament meteoric. Soon a favourite of Margaret Thatcher, he became Foreign Secretary and then Chancellor of the Exchequher. When Thatcher fell, he fought and won a shrewd campaign to succeed her. With the difficulties of the Gulf and Maastricht behind him, and the Poll Tax abolished, John Major went on to win a remarkable victory in the General Election of 1992, against the expectations of even his own friends. He brought down inflation a...

Offering a ringside seat for the last exchanges of the Cold War, this book provides an account of the deal that allowed George Bush to use military force against Saddam Hussein in exchange for a Middle-East peace conference on the Palestinian issue; and of James Baker's private assurance to Eduard Shevardnadze that the United States would understand Soviet use of force in the breakaway republics. Michael Beschloss is the author of "The Crisis Years", "Kennedy and Roosevelt" and "Mayday", and Str...

In Dynasty, biographer Pranay Gupte sheds light on the Nehrus and Gandhis of India, the longest lasting political dynasty in the modern world. The family's origins can be controversially traced back 200 years to Kashmir, where the Nehrus belonged to the Kashmiri Brahman Pandit class, and it has been in power for nearly a century. Since its founder, British-trained lawyer and Indian Ntional Movement activist, Motilal Nehru, ascended to the presidency of the National Congress, it has produced th...

James Madison led one of the most influential and prolific lives in American history, and his story--although all too often overshadowed by his more celebrated contemporaries--is integral to that of the nation. Madison helped to shape our country as perhaps no other Founder: collaborating on the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, resisting government overreach by assembling one of the nation's first political parties (the Republicans, who became today's Democrats), and taking to the battl...

Wade was the 2009 choice for the Linda Bruckheimer Series in Kentucky Literature Author has an extensive publication record, and we can expect Small Fires to find reviews in her target audience -- journals and literary magazines Wade's essays confront her growing understanding of her sexuality and lesbian identity and should find a receptive audience among LGBT bookstores and reading groups Author is energetic and young, and can be expected to be open to online touring, book club phone calls, a...

This is the story of two Confederate spies, Tom Harbin and Charlie Russell. Harbin, among the most wanted of all Confederate agents, was also one of the leaders in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln. It was Harbin who left a getaway horse for Booth outside Ford's Theatre, and Harbin who helped Booth escape across the Potomac. For a time there was a big price on Harbin's head, but he was never arrested. Tradition holds that he went into hiding, perhaps in Cuba or England, but this book demonstrates...

1968 was an unprecedented year in terms of upheaval on numerous scales: political, military, economic, social, cultural. In the United States, perhaps no one was more undone by the events of 1968 than President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Kyle Longley leads his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of what Johnson characterized as the 'year of a continuous nightmare'. Longley explores how LBJ perceived the most significant events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther K...