In Sickness and in Power : Illness in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years

Owen, David Anthony Llewellyn

ISBN 10: 041377662X / ISBN 13: 9780413776624

Published by Methuen & Company, Limited, 2008

About this Item

Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.

Seller Inventory # GRP17194873

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In Sickness and in Power : Illness in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years
• Publisher: Methuen & Company, Limited
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041377662X
• ISBN 13: 9780413776624
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Illus. With Photos
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Political leaders' ill-conceived decisions are often connected to their own illness, claims David Owen in this revealing new book. In Sickness and In Power looks at illness in heads of government between 1901 and 2007. It considers how illness and therapy a?? both physical and mental a?? affect the decision-making of heads of government, engendering folly, in the sense of foolishness, stupidity or rashness. Owen is particularly interested in leaders who were not ill in the conventional sense, whose cognitive faculties functioned well, but who developed a 'hubristic syndrome' that powerfully affected their performance and their actions. As we learn here, they suffer a loss of capacity and become excessively self-confident and contemptuous of advice that runs counter to what they believe, or sometimes of any advice at all. Long fascinated with the inter-relationship between politics and medicine, David Owen uses his deep knowledge of both to look at sickness in political leaders. Owen expertly scrutinises such diverse political personalities as Sir Anthony Eden at the time of Suez in 1956; John F. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961; the last Shah of Iran; and President Mitterrand of France who suffered from prostate cancer. The author also devotes a chapter to the hubristic behaviour and relationship between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. The book ends by outlining some of the safeguards that society needs to address as a consequence of illness in heads of government.

About the Author

David Owen (Lord Owen) was Labour Foreign Secretary under James Callaghan. He co-founded and went on to lead the Social Democratic Party, and is now a crossbencher in the Lords. He trained as a medical doctor, and has long been interested in the effects of ill health on heads of government. Lord Owen's many books include Balkan Odyssey; Time to Declare, his powerful autobiography; Seven Ages, a poetry anthology; and The Hubris Syndrome, published to great acclaim by Politico's in 2007.