Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe, by Ian Kershaw

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'Personality and Power' by Ian Kershaw

For centuries, the “great men” theory dominated the way history—and human society—was understood. Not “great” in virtue, necessarily, but “great” in their charisma, the largeness of their impact on events, and “men” because with exceptions, most of the dominant figures were male. By the late 20th century, theories of “great men” were replaced by the quasi-Marxist concept that history is directed by vast impersonal forces, the abstractions of economics and institutions rather than the will power of individuals.

Ian Kershaw walks between those polarities, maintaining that history—and human society—is shaped by “great” individuals and the forces that shape them, the institutions that channel or obstruct their vision. Kershaw is the author of the magisterial multi-volume biography of Adolf Hitler, an individual who shifted the course of history. Kershaw’s latest book, Personality and Power, examines 11 men and one woman—Margaret Thatcher—who dramatically influenced 20th century Europe (and sometimes the wider world).

Some of his 12 subjects loom larger than others. Francisco Franco stands small next to Hitler or Josef Stalin, yet the Spanish Civil War, with his leadership as the deciding factor, was the testing ground for World War II. Some of the “great men” of Kershaw’s book left behind few positive accomplishments—Hitler and Stalin again. Others, like Winston Churchill, stood firm against evil during a time of high crisis, albeit their own record was otherwise mixed. At least two, especially Charles de Gaulle and Conrad Adenauer, were authoritarian personalities opposed to the idea of dictatorship. Vladimir Lenin and Benito Mussolini understood themselves as revolutionaries, even if Mussolini’s revolution was more theatrical than real. Others, like Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, saw themselves as reformers of the moribund systems they inherited. And then there was Helmut Kohl, an unexceptional politician who found himself making decisions at the exceptional moment when the Berlin Wall fell, and the Soviet Bloc cracked.

Kershaw examines a dozen leading figures in 20th century European politics with fairness, calling out their misdeeds while understanding them within the context of their time, their place and the vast impersonal forces that formed them and sustained (or ended) their careers.