This New York Times bestseller is a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mental illness and leadership.

Historians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Programme at Tufts Medical Center, offers and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis.

From the importance of Lincoln's "depressive realism" to the lacklustre leadership of exceedingly sane men as Neville Chamberlain, A First-Rate Madness overturns many of our most cherished perceptions about greatness and the mind.

About the Author
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi is a professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and the director of the Mood Disorders Programme at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He trained in psychiatry at, and also serves on the faculty of, Harvard University's Medical School, and has degrees in history, philosophy and public health. Visit nassirghaemi.com.

Reviews
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 First-Rate Madness is a sophisticated work of psychology, but it is also a gossipy work of celebrity history, a who's who of the eminently unhinged. * The New York Observer *



Book Information
ISBN 9780143121336
Author Nassir Ghaemi
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 335g
Dimensions(mm) 212mm * 138mm * 20mm