How long does it take to read The Myth of the Strong Leader?
The Myth of the Strong Leader by Archie Brown takes about 8 hours 33 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 8 hours 33 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 2014. 466 pages, about 128,150 words.
18 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 14 hours 14 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 8 hours 33 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 20 minutes |
The page count is the median across 2 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
In this magisterial and wide-ranging survey of political leadership over the past hundred years, Archie Brown challenges the widespread belief that strong leaders - those who dominate their colleagues and the policy-making process - are the most successful and admirable. Within democracies a collegial style of leadership is too often characterized as weakness and its advantages overlooked. Even in authoritarian regimes, a more collective leadership is a lesser evil compared with personal dictatorship where cultivation of the myth of the strong leader is often a prelude to oppression and carnage. 'Strong leaders' in democratic countries can do less harm, but here too the idea that one leader knows best and is entitled to take the big decisions is dangerous, even though overweening leaders in democracies are seldom as strong or independent as they purport to be. In reality, only a minority of political leaders make a big difference, by challenging assumptions about the politically possible or setting in motion systemic change. Yet in a democracy that is rare. It is especially when enlightened leaders acquire power in an authoritarian system that the opportunity for radical transformation occurs.
Subjects: Political leadership, History, Politische Führung
