“An excellent, vividly written” (The Washington Post) account of leadership in wartime that explores how four great democratic statesmen—Abraham Lincoln, Georges Clemenceau, Winston Churchill, and David Ben-Gurion—worked with the military leaders who served them during warfare. The relationship between military leaders and political leaders has always been a complicated one, especially in times of war. When the chips are down, who should run the show—the politicians or the generals? In Supreme Command, Eliot A. Cohen expertly argues that great statesmen do not turn their wars over to their generals, and then stay out of their way. Great statesmen make better generals of their generals. They question and drive their military men, and at key times they overrule their advice. The generals may think they know how to win, but the statesmen are the ones who see the big picture. Abraham Lincoln, Georges Clemenceau, Winston Churchill, and David Ben-Gurion led four very different kinds of democracy, under the most difficult circumstances imaginable. They came from four very different backgrounds—backwoods lawyer, dueling French doctor, rogue aristocrat, and impoverished Jewish socialist. Yet they faced similar challenges. Each exhibited mastery of detail and fascination with technology. All four were great learners, who studied war as if it were their own profession, and in many ways mastered it as well as did their generals. All found themselves locked in conflict with military men. All four triumphed. The powerful lessons of this “brilliant” (National Review) book will touch and inspire anyone who faces intense adversity and is the perfect gift for history buffs of all backgrounds.

Richard J. Flaherty's been called spook, assassin, dope smuggler, dwarf... but who was he really? Welcome to the strange and shadowy world of covert ops, cover-ups, conspiracies and the smallest and most unconventional man ever to serve in the US military.

Few American presidents have exercised their constitutional authority as commander in chief with more determination than Franklin D. Roosevelt. He intervened in military operations more often and to better effect than his contemporaries Churchill and Stalin, and maneuvered events so that the Grand Alliance was directed from Washington. In this expansive history, Eric Larrabee examines the extent and importance of FDR's wartime leadership through his key military leaders—Marshall, King, Arnold, MacArthur, Vandergrift, Nimitz, Eisenhower, Stilwell, and LeMay. Devoting a chapter to each man, the author studies Roosevelt's impact on their personalities, their battles (sometimes with each other), and the consequences of their decisions. He also addresses such critical subjects as Roosevelt's responsibility for the war and how well it achieved his goals. First published in 1987, this comprehensive portrait of the titans of the American military effort in World War II is available in a new paperback edition for the first time in sixteen years.

There are plenty of leadership how-to books, filled with advice such as "Just do this to get ahead!" We're overdue for a book that warns business leaders and CEOs what not to do, and why.The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance aims to help aspiring, early-stage, and experienced leaders alike answer a critical question:"How will I use my leadership power?"Too many leaders are increasingly abusing their position, in the process damaging themselves and the people they're charged with leading. This is particularly true for men in leadership roles, as the #MeToo movement has brought to light the scale of long-standing male abuses of power that have been happening just below the surface.Co-authored by globally renowned author and executive development trainer Bill Treasurer and retired U.S. Navy SEAL Captain John Havlik, this book brings together two unique perspectives-civilian and military-to explore precisely why some good leaders go bad. With decades worth of insight from training elite military teams, special forces, global companies and organizations, The Leadership Killer also contains stories from notable leaders as well as actionable strategies for the reader.The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance exposes the single most lethal leadership flaw. Being a good leader doesn't require being a bad person, and if you know what to look out for, Treasurer and Havlik point out, you can keep your ego and hubris in check and become a leader worth remembering.

Ken Follett’s magnificent historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage. A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families—and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . .

A collection of little-known facts about the U.S. presidents that provides a glimpse into their personalities, covering such topics as nicknames, families, finances, food and drink, homes, sports, hobbies, and oddities, as well as their lives after the presidency.

Meet history's most evil personalities in this encyclopedia of infamy from Vlad the Impaler to the psychopathic serial murderers of today.