A First-Rate Madness
Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness
Penguin
Paperback
: 03 Jan 2013
£9.99
Sorry, this book is out of stock
If you wish to be contacted when this book is available to buy, please submit your email address below.
Synopsis
Historians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others.
In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Programme at Tufts Medical Center, offers and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis.
From the importance of Lincoln's "depressive realism" to the lacklustre leadership of exceedingly sane men as Neville Chamberlain, A First-Rate Madness overturns many of our most cherished perceptions about greatness and the mind.
Reviews
» Submit a reviewCritic Review:
— BOSTON GLOBE
“Ghaemi isn’t the first to claim that madness is a close relative of genius, or even the first to extend the idea into politics. But he does go further than others… His explanations are elegant, too—intuitively accurate and banked off the latest psychiatric research.”
— NEWSWEEK
“A provocative thesis… Ghaemi’s book deserves high marks for original thinking.” –THE WASHINGTON POST
“Ghaemi is a remarkably disciplined writer, and he examines both psychiatry and history with impressive clarity and sensitivity. A First-Rate Madness will almost certainly be one of the most fascinating books of the year, not just because of the author's lucid prose and undeniable intelligence, but because of his provocative thesis: "For abnormal challenges, abnormal leaders are needed."” --NPR.ORG
“Provocative, fascinating.” –SALON.COM
Table of contents
Introduction: The Inverse Law of Sanity
Part One Creativity
CHAPTER ONE Make Them Fear and Dread Us: Sherman
CHAPTER TWO Work Like Hell—And Advertise: Turner
Part Two Realism
CHAPTER THREE Heads I Win, Tails It's Chance
CHAPTER FOUR Out of the Wilderness: Churchill
CHAPTER FIVE Both Read the Same Bible: Lincoln
Part Three Empathy
CHAPTER SIX Mirror Neuron on the Wall
CHAPTER SEVEN The Woes of Mahatmas: Gandhi
CHAPTER EIGHT Psychiatry for the American Soul: King
Part Four Resilience
CHAPTER NINE Stronger
CHAPTER TEN A First-Rate Temperament: Roosevelt
CHEPATER ELEVEN Sickness in Camelot: Kennedy
Part Five Treatment
CHAPTER TWELVE A Spectacular Psychochemical Success: Kennedy Revisited
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Hitler Amok
Part Six Mental Health
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Homoclite Leaders: Bush, Blair, Nixon, and Others
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Stigma and Politics
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Product details
Format :
Paperback
ISBN: 9780143121336
Size : 135 x 216mm
Pages : 352
Published : 03 Jan 2013
Publisher : Penguin
A First-Rate Madness
Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness
£9.99
Related email updates
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication or when the author releases another book.
Please alert me via email when:
