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A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness
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A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness Paperback - 2012

by Ghaemi, Nassir

  • Used

Ghaemi, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts University Medical Center, draws from the careers such notable leaders as Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, and others to build an argument at once controversial and compelling.

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Details

  • Title A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness
  • Author Ghaemi, Nassir
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Condition UsedAcceptable
  • Pages 352
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, New York, New York
  • Date 2012-06-26
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 2Y6RVK000UC9_ns
  • ISBN 9780143121336 / 0143121332
  • Weight 0.64 lbs (0.29 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 in (21.08 x 13.72 x 2.03 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Depression, Mental, Leadership - Psychological aspects
  • Dewey Decimal Code 303.340

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Summary

An investigation into the surprisingly deep correlation between mental illness and successful leadership, as seen through the lives of some of the most important political figures in history

In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, offers a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mood illnesses (depression and bipolar disorder) and leadership. He sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders—creativity, resilience, empathy, and realism—also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. From the importance of the “depressive realism” and creativity of mentally ill or mentally abnormal figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr., to the lackluster leadership of “mentally normal” men such as Neville Chamberlain, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair, A First-Rate Madness overturns many of our most cherished perceptions about greatness and the mind and provides a unique insight for understanding our current political leaders and presidential candidates going into the next election season.
 
A First-Rate Madness includes profiles of Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ted Turner, among other famous leaders.

From the publisher

Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., is a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He has published more than a hundred scientific articles and several books on psychiatry.

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Media reviews

“A glistening psychological history, faceted largely by the biographies of eight famous leaders… A First-Rate Madness is carefully plotted and sensibly argued.”
— BOSTON GLOBE

“Ghaemi isn’t the first to claim that madness is a close relative of genius, or even the first to extend the idea into politics.  But he does go further than others… His explanations are elegant, too—intuitively accurate and banked off the latest psychiatric research.”
— NEWSWEEK

“A provocative thesis… Ghaemi’s book deserves high marks for original thinking.” –THE WASHINGTON POST

“Ghaemi is a remarkably disciplined writer, and he examines both psychiatry and history with impressive clarity and sensitivity. A First-Rate Madness will almost certainly be one of the most fascinating books of the year, not just because of the author's lucid prose and undeniable intelligence, but because of his provocative thesis: "For abnormal challenges, abnormal leaders are needed."” --NPR.ORG

“Provocative, fascinating.” –SALON.COM


About the author

Nassir Ghaemi, M.D., is a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He has published more than a hundred scientific articles and several books on psychiatry.