Books like Kofi Annan by Stanley Meisler

Gandhi's autobiography is a profound exploration of his non-violent resistance to racism and colonialism, as well as his efforts to seek purity and truth through simple living and spiritual devotion.

Overestimates of violence beg the question: is modern society the most peaceful era? Steven Pinker argues that, through centuries of decline, violence has steadily fallen, revealing humanity’s better angels.

Forecasting the Rise of the Rest: A Vision of the Post-American World

Moisés Naím explores how today’s leaders wield less absolute power, as micro‑level forces challenge established elites in politics, business, and society.

A gripping account of Kofi A. Annan's years as the UN Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006, focusing on his diplomatic efforts and the challenges he faced in shaping international policy.

Gordon S. Wood reexamines Benjamin Franklin, revealing that the myth of him as the quintessential American obscures the complex thinker who served the British Crown, pursued gentlemanly status, and shaped the Revolution from within.

This riveting, New York Times bestselling biography illuminates the life of Otto von Bismarck, the statesman who unified Germany but who also embodied everything brutal and ruthless about Prussian culture. Jonathan Steinberg draws heavily on contemporary writings, allowing Bismarck's friends and foes to tell the story. What rises from these pages is a complex giant of a man: a hypochondriac with the constitution of an ox, a brutal tyrant who could easily shed tears, a convert to an extreme form of evangelical Protestantism who secularized schools and introduced civil divorce. Bismarck may have been in sheer ability the most intelligent man to direct a great state in modern times. His brilliance and insight dazzled his contemporaries. But all agreed there was also something demonic, diabolical, overwhelming, beyond human attributes, in Bismarck's personality. He was a kind of malign genius who, behind the various postures, concealed an ice-cold contempt for his fellow human beings and a drive to control and rule them. As one contemporary noted: "the Bismarck regime was a constant orgy of scorn and abuse of mankind, collectively and individually." In this comprehensive and expansive biography--a brilliant study in power--Jonathan Steinberg brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the "Iron Chancellor's" unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character. - Publisher.