Ian Kershaw’s authoritative study examines the Personality and Power of 12 major historical figures, including despots like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini, national autocrats Tito and Franco, democratic leaders Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Thatcher, and Kohl, as well as Gorbachev, who rose in a totalitarian system but ultimately destroyed it. The study explores the common characteristics among these leaders and analyzes how they wielded power. Kershaw argues that most of them came to power during times of crisis and were able to use the tumult to transform their agenda into a legitimating ideology. The study also delves into the biographies of each figure and provides important insight into the processes behind the rises and roles of these leaders. Overall, the study offers a framework for understanding power and its use.