King of the Mountain: The Nature of Political Leadership

This is one of the most ambitious and interesting works I've ever seen. The author, apparently on his own and without institutional backing, took on the study of political leadership and addressed it empirically, coding 182 features of different leaders during the 20th century. Although replete with entertaining anecdotes, the book is based on statistical analyses that are presented in a clear and intuitive manner. There are literaly hundreds if not thousands of new facts and observations. By examining so many leaders and identiying types, he shows that individuals such as Hitler are not mere anomolies but share common traits - independance of interests, excellent memories, supreme confidence in their own vision, etc. This book is similar in approach to my own (Personality, Character, and Leadership in the White House) but extends analysis to leaders in all sorts of governments. My only complaint is that some of the metholdogy underying the study could be more fully explained (for example, how many raters provided jdugments on personality traits and how these were defined?), but most readers will not miss this. A tour de force.

I really enjoy this author. This book is a fascinating history of political leaders and what makes them tick. I'm so happy to find such a nice used hardcover!

Dr. Ludwig takes a look at everyone who was leader of a country, and held political power as such, in the twentieth century: dictators, kings, prime ministers, presidents. His conclusions may be uncomfortable to women readers, as it points out that about 99% of world leaders have been men. It also shows the tendency (over many decades) that ruthlessness has been rewarded in the grasping for power. His emphasis on similarities between human and ape cultures is a prevailing theme - thus, putting a picture of a gorilla on the cover is apt.

I purchased based on reviews. It is a very subjective analysis of leaders based on limited resources, with facts based on self injected biographies from leaders (one can imagine how much propaganda they have in every nation). I saw many comments from Turkish folks because of high ranking of their leaders. I am not sure if they really understand the book. Highest score does not mean much within the context of the discussion, they should check the category of leaders they are being compared with. However, it is a good book to have a survey of world leaders in the past century.

Outstanding book I learned so much about world leaders that one never had any inside information about, This books gives the reader a lot to think about because it compares our closest ancestors on the evolutionary tree to the behavior of some of the greatest and not so great world leaders. Maybe a little out there but that's what makes its a great read. Well written and researchedwould highly recommend to anyone interested in World History. Elisabeth O'Donnell

In order to understand the politics, you must definitely read this book.

It is an incredibly interesting look at the curious question of how and why certain people become or remain leaders- A reference book that needs underlining in many places to be reminded of at a later stage. A very entertaining read too - especially for a research book based on findings and facts.

Great and really great book... I will quote from this book from my upcoming book that will release in a few Months...Alper KUL - Author of "Never Look Back! You Are Not Going That Way"

Excellent book made even more relevant with the ongoing political changes. I will use parts of the book in development economics and leadership courses I teach.

Great.

Fully satisfied

Thank you

Carefully analyzed, well-structured, and simply the best book in the field.