Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They Were Made [Paperback]

Alan Axelrod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

In brief, compelling, and inspiring vignettes, bestselling historian Alan Axelrod pinpoints and investigates the make-or-break event in the lives and careers of some of history’s most significant figures. Axelrod reexamines history by revealing the answer to the fascinating question of why the people who made history made their choices—and conveys the resonance of those choices today. The 46 profiles range from ancient times to the present day and include Cleopatra’s decision to rescue Egypt; Washington’s decision to cross the Delaware and win; Gandhi’s decision to prevail against the British Empire without bloodshed; Truman’s decision to drop the A-bomb and end WW II; Rosa Parks decision to sit in for civil rights; Boris Yeltsin’s decision to embrace a new world order; and Flight 93’s decision to take a stand against terror.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Axelrod examines the lives, careers, and decisions of 46 of the world's most famous leaders. He posits that far-reaching decisions have two characteristics--the choice is between or among high-stakes alternatives and it must be made and the choice cannot be avoided.^B What he labels the Rubicon Factor, Axelrod explains, is a quality of leadership that enables an individual to define and make decisions bearing the highest stakes and then to act on those decisions. There are decisions in crisis (Truman and the A-bomb, 1945); decisions to venture (Columbus and the New World, 1492); decisions of conscience (Lincoln and Emancipation, 1862); decisions to risk everything (Jimmy Doolittle and the raid on Tokyo, 1942); and decisions to sacrifice (Chief Joseph, leader of the Nez Perce, and the end of his battle, 1877). Axelrod, the author of 60 books on history, business, and management, has written an insightful collection of vignettes ranging from ancient times to present. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“[A]n insightful collection of vignettes ranging from ancient times to present.” –Booklist

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402745311
• ISBN-13: 978-1402745317
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #846,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good History-Lite Reader, July 7, 2006

By 

KiplingKat (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They Were Made (Hardcover)

This is a collection of vignettes explaining how some of the most influential decisions in history were arrived at; from Galileo's decision to publicly support Copernicus' solar-centric version of the universe to President Truman's decision to drop the A-Bomb to Bill Gates acquiring the rights to DOS. Though the book does cover events spanning a period from Cleopatra to Flight 93, 70% of the book is dedicated to American decision makers so for a strict historical survey for pedantic historians, it falls woefully short.

However for the casual reader of history, it is a very interesting and engaging coverage of many of turning points of history and not merely the boring, behind the scenes red tape kind. "Decisions in Crisis" covers Elizabeth I's standing up to the then overwhelming might of Spain and JFK's finding a middle ground in the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Decisions to Venture" covers such diverse topics from the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Race for the Moon to Charlie Goodnight's first cattle drive and Ted Turner's creation of CNN. "Decision of Conscience" I found to be the most stirring with examples such as Gandhi's use of non-violent resistance, Branch Rickey's hiring Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers, W.E.B. Du Bios role in the creation of the NAACP, Daniel Ellsberg's decision to leak the Pentagon Papers and Betty Friedan's decision to look into and beyond her own dissatisfaction with what society prescribed a woman's life should be to what women had the potential to achieve. "Decision to Risk Everything" of course included such famous examples as Hillary and Norgay's ascent of Everest and Washington's Delaware Crossing, but it also includes such lesser known moments such as the Berlin Airlift and Nixon's decision to open relations with Communist China.

The final section, "Decision to Hope", was the weakest. It does contain some excellent examples, such as Begin and Sadat's work for peace between Israel and Egypt (which is one of my first memories of world events as a child), Carnegie's philosophy of modern noblesse oblige. However, the other examples feel misplaced and the book strikes a very sour note here by including Chief Joseph' surrender at the Battle of Bear Paw mountain as a "Decision to Hope. "I want time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I will find them among the dead. Hear me my chiefs, I am tired, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." How does this sound hopeful to anyone? After watching his tribe be decimated by U.S. troops, freezing temperatures and starvation in a conflict started by American settler's greed it does not sound at all hopeful to me. It sounds like surrender which is not an act of hope, but resignation. A "decision" forced down one's throat at gun point is not a decision at all.

But that stumble aside, it is otherwise an good overview of some of the more momentous moments in history, especially the modern ones that shaped the world we live in today and can introduce even more knowledgeable history readers to historical figures not usually mentioned in the grand scale of most historical work.

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, Read it, Go Out and Be Audacious!, July 15, 2010

By 

James R. Walker "aka Shoes" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They Were Made (Hardcover)

Just got back from Barnes and Noble. HAD to review it. Most of the best things you've done in your life, exciting, helpful, healing or loving, you've done OUTSIDE your comfort zone.

Whether it was Joan of Arc leading the charge against the British, or Lincoln taking a risk and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, Clara Barton founding the Red Cross when it was considered impossible, or at least gravely dangerous for women to go in among soldiers, some of the greatest decisions that resulted in some of the greatest accomplishment started with decisions people made AGAINST the wishes of their families and friends, without financial resources, and without the training or education, obstacles that would have stopped merely average people.

Buy it. Read it. Get audacious!

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but not great., May 8, 2009

By 

A.S. Blosser (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They Were Made (Paperback)

This was a good/decent book. The writing is not very good, but I learned some interesting things about history. Some chapters were excruciatingly boring, but most were readable and overall I mostly enjoyed the quick, semi-educational read.