To illuminate the moral and social limits of leadership around the world, F. G. Bailey draws on examples from his own research in Orissa, Europe, and elsewhere, from his work on bureaucracies, and from political and military biographies, novels, and historical accounts. He carries his controversial argument into two domains: that of the leader and his mass following and that of the leader in his entourage.

F.G. Bailey is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego. His most recent books are The Witch-Hunt; or, The Triumph of Morality, The Kingdom of Individuals, and The Prevalence of Deceit, from Cornell.

This is a beautifully written book, rich with anecdotes and spiced with wry wit. As in his other work, Bailey shows a keen eye for the details of political life and an engaging willingness to strip it of its pretenses.