A publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries
A division of the American Library Association
Editorial Offices: 575 Main Street, Suite 300, Middletown, CT 06457-3445
Phone: (860) 347-6933
Fax: (860) 704-0465

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

Please do not link to this page.

May 2015 Vol. 52 No. 9

In this book, Morrisey (Hillsdale College) examines the statesmanship of two influential leaders of the 20th century.  He seeks to place these leaders’ actions within the realm of geopolitics, a relevant topic considering world politics today.  Unfortunately, the book is unorganized in its thesis, both overall and within specific chapters.  For example, the introduction does not provide readers with a clear discussion of the book's purposes, because the geopolitics of liberty is not succinctly defined.  This lack of focus may be because the book has limited connections to international relations (IR) theories, particularly realism, a theory employed by both Churchill and de Gaulle in their strategic decision making.  Although the book was thoroughly researched and uses both leaders' writings extensively, the lack of IR theory means that it is conceptually weak, especially because Morrisey seeks to connect political philosophy, European politics, and diplomacy.  Chapters are informative, such as those on the leaders’ Cold War views and how Churchill and de Gaulle sought to position their former empires in the world.  The conclusion should have repeated the book’s themes and drawn connections to today’s leaders, but this is missing.

--S. L. McMillan, Lander University

Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections.