Book excerpt: Who are the great leaders in history and what have they got to teach us today about the nature and practice of leadership? A wide range of inspiring leaders, from Lao Tzu and Machiavelli, to Thatcher and Mandela. This book is a unique approach to leadership by a writer internationally acknowledged as a major influence on leadership studies. There are Points to Ponder throughout the book, helping to draw out the lessons and concepts for the reader. It features among others: Alexander the Great, Amundsen, Attila, Attlee, Bevan, Boudicca, Mike Brearley, Caesar, Churchill, de Gaulle, Einstein, Eisenhower, Elizabeth I, Gandhi, Sir Edmund Hillary, Ho Chih Min, Hsun-Tzu, Jefferson, Jesus, Jinnah, Kennedy, Lao Tzu, Lincoln, Machiavelli, Mandela, Montgomery, Mosley, Napoleon, Nehru, Nixon, Pericles, Plato, Reagan, F D Roosevelt, St Paul, Scott, Shackleton, Socrates, Washington, Wellington and Xenophon.