Full Description
This fascinating book analyzes 13 control failures in human history, from Robespierre's promotion of the French Revolution, to Hoover's efforts to stop the Great Depression, to the intelligence failures of 9/11. Assessing the causes of 10 additional historical cases, the author's comparative analysis shows how each leadership failure was caused by an expansion of the range of control attempts, their scope, and/or their diversity. A leader's or other actor's attempts to broaden the range of control targets have been most important in causing great human failures. The analysis is timely during an era when war, global warming, and other vexing problems plague our society.
Contents
Part I Preliminary Matters; Chapter 1 The Ubiquity of Control Failures, the Nature of Attempted Control, and Some Control Principles; Chapter 2 Control over Human Behavior and the Notion of Power; Part II Colossal Control Failures by Three American Presidents; Chapter 3 Herbert Hoover's Nightmare; Chapter 4 FDR's Failed Attempt to Pack the Supreme Court; Chapter 5 Richard Nixon's Stonewalling; Part III Colossal Control Failures by Three Revolutionaries; Chapter 6 Robespierre Reaches Far too Far; Chapter 7 Trotsky's Fatal Misperception of Stalin; Chapter 8 "Che" Guevara; Part IV Colossal Control Failures by Two Dictators; Chapter 9 Caesar Crosses the Rubicon; Chapter 10 Hitler's Putsch and His Invasion of the U.S.S.R.; Part V Some Other Colossal Control Failures; Chapter 11 The Juice Walks; Chapter 12 AIDS; Chapter 13 Control Failures and 9/11, America's Worst Day; Part VI Major Implications; Chapter 14 Some Hopefully Significant Comparisons; Chapter 15 Bearing on the Future;
