King of the Mountain
Subtitle: The Nature of Political Leadership
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: May 2004
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 475
ISBN-13: 9780813190686
Subjects: Occupational & industrial psychology; Political leaders & leadership; Social Psychology; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; Politics/International Relations; Psychology; History & Theory - General; Personality; Political Process - Leadership
First sentence: Why do people want to rule?
Description: "Political leaders govern countries, negotiate treaties, control military forces, and shape economies. Advanced as these activities may seem, however, psychiatrist Arnold M. Ludwig contends that rulers' actions are rooted in the alpha-male behaviors of monkeys and apes.".

"Profiling every ruler of a recognized country in the twentieth century - over 1,900 people in all - Ludwig establishes how rulers came to power, how they lost power, the dangers they faced, and the odds of their being assassinated, committing suicide, or dying a natural death.

Concentrating on a smaller set of rulers for whom more extensive personal information was available, Ludwig profiles the six different kinds of leaders, examining their characteristics, childhoods, and mental stability or instability to pinpoint chief predictors of later political success."--BOOK JACKET.