First published 2017
Margaret Macmillan investigates whether individual personalities drive historical change or if larger forces like industrialization and globalization sweep everyone along. She examines how the decisions of powerful figures affect millions and determine the fate of nations. Macmillan studies both famous and obscure historical characters including men, women, explorers, rulers, dreamers, politicians, observers, and campaigners. She analyzes leadership through figures like Bismarck and Franklin Delano Roosevelt while exploring observers such as Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India. The book examines how explorers and visionaries like Fanny Parkes and Elizabeth Simcoe overcame the limitations of their societies. Macmillan reveals the intricate connections between biography and history, between individuals and their eras. She considers how those who document events shape our understanding of the past. The book will transform how readers view both historical periods and contemporary times while introducing them to previously unknown figures.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, historical-figures
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century, 21st-Century
288 pages · Paperback · PROFILE BOOKS