Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution
Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution
Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution
Ebook575 pages7 hours

Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

"In his lucid and bracing history, [David] Bell helps us better understand how [a] charismatic grifter came to occupy the most powerful office in the world . . . Bell’s description of our predicament makes for essential reading." —Robert Zaretsky, Los Angeles Review of Books

An immersive examination of why the age of democratic revolutions was also a time of hero worship and strongmen

In Men on Horseback, the Princeton University historian David A. Bell offers a dramatic new interpretation of modern politics, arguing that the history of democracy is inextricable from the history of charisma, its shadow self.

Bell begins with Corsica’s Pasquale Paoli, an icon of republican virtue whose exploits were once renowned throughout the Atlantic World. Paoli would become a signal influence in both George Washington’s America and Napoleon Bonaparte’s France. In turn, Bonaparte would exalt Washington even as he fashioned an entirely different form of leadership. In the same period, Toussaint Louverture sought to make French Revolutionary ideals of freedom and equality a reality for the formerly enslaved people of what would become Haiti, only to be betrayed by Napoleon himself. Simon Bolivar witnessed the coronation of Napoleon and later sought refuge in newly independent Haiti as he fought to liberate Latin America from Spanish rule. Tracing these stories and their interconnections, Bell weaves a spellbinding tale of power and its ability to mesmerize.

Ultimately, Bell tells the crucial and neglected story of how political leadership was reinvented for a revolutionary world that wanted to do without kings and queens. If leaders no longer rule by divine right, what underlies their authority? Military valor? The consent of the people? Their own Godlike qualities? Bell’s subjects all struggled with this question, learning from each other’s example as they did so. They were men on horseback who sought to be men of the people—as Bell shows, modern democracy, militarism, and the cult of the strongman all emerged together.

Today, with democracy’s appeal and durability under threat around the world, Bell’s account of its dark twin is timely and revelatory. For all its dangers, charisma cannot be dispensed with; in the end, Bell offers a stirring injunction to reimagine it as an animating force for good in the politics of our time.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 28, 2020
ISBN9780374714741
Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution

Read more from David A. Bell

Related to Men on Horseback

Related ebooks

Political Biographies For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Men on Horseback

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Men on Horseback - David A. Bell

    +lcbook_preview_excerpt.html}˲Ǒdo•HM# @´"*3*xQ-W?ff=6ZI[O%#^J[Up?~0N~j{>uO|~ ~Gn?C_ ۏ>>{嶭]hgW|Z0^|0?}4ckyGR͇'W.~G7n薩r}S}ayS0\᫡}íke;?Nj;Z罩xdwַ'u]XGf5S}9aө,oߩ<0}z_-U.E4yX䍾s7nx$wq6Uy_?}m&d  \Cگ3y! 2y|U|޹s_sne>Mן}β#{1XN6總 غUtm}k5d|1Fm^,OϷo#ws 3WTLv q/dw/C_=:o>U&(d01oqbTed;,qhjAX=tG[6n>ȗ,r]]ֽxOv:OXu.ȐvÏí{ ;y)ʧ=pﰛ, 1}%RS1ySRx0?͎/}"_ Mȱ祗CО7xj7:$i~Us8aaN@ 58ɺmuT3"|6!H8"SuaEKK8fNS l| ey?EJn#x[كA=_JN 1EvuR?߿x|/>~Yxۗ/_vS".ԳhƋ9ld㷋w˦bM_qjW^<^=}UVc_<~k;'ʑ¤d7d2hQlf/e8 2x_^NLc+L*'Gܹa׮9lCeE _j=|w|J|{+Za܏iHϰK8neZs]?'׏cGYYpVWh3-/g׊QŝPn.–Nq/c>Qtrzv01-bDw[{6 ]!hID|ndD //ڹXN=ƒn#'(:uף'uENxEĚan py*& H Gf׶\Yo?r; !{_| @Hd.!h\8M(V"a>D+؋5Se& &yPIʰdzN{YtLyQOP" T~(Aoi[9/{YlvS f8 e㠲8->v *>B&:7$^Rho⣸]vK#cCU,{QM;P*QhN|B֍J20="OZdC1LcݳZl 'EC;?;y,S'k'*9as'}[Q|M$ng`P6AA=&? bN4'99e1Q|hSL&> }Wd9Xv4(f8l)VSc bG+SrIΈ G&#ag}]ܹvRL8*~lȪ7/niB?=%!xNsؒ,G1q ЮP8"'H^ԽlyN sS* <[QIoK)hSp#t,2q Y ./ xV 7y-\N7dG8}}NT>-Bbmbe.A^U0˘I$8`9O`XkZ{WG-12P+X^OW.#z S z1`p|_yQ$C&m&ZA6԰S<8 Y0U`|QKc^MY2@5Ys]!P[BT2qVL,<p&S!PR(q70Hc-D.k)ZS쿭&4}'l e*z-TW"`TN@ 8„5qKlj Ld_@0-b٢rK/ʄȋ)VXވ8r.' p< FodHpmxr}Zl+6CӹQ6YtQ MpEѢ~-#xmr|NOr(Z%<02/|&$)D#"#|gaKKTnXe}UVUd4Ow5 vTQIG4݆g 2C#Nw;2 a>#fO(VDAiOjvo>J*_J>hbbHT؀ꐣX@H}:)nΏx[3TT<ѤbQ<$D%OLc%QAxyO=cνF'eGwj`(QA0FgKv rt`f6bzgJc^tU79QPhnH3#1XL”Fј"fi_Tgq$}^LߢYdt .Q81C^\O!-?36G#1NƜpC/"Z66AspkFw8^u` wbJh`nq{Fы1ߠZ#%f8+hM&lWV뙧@lNSzPUD!.bQ@T؜WdjC+\wHrWk$GT7Br$oU ]J~灱12؁CL;pHTgyTbV7l2K!Ge禽_tv8Jkgj1U0%& HJMXv[TRgl2:NFU0 \#H6K)1Tr#@ az(h?i#3# D'E>Ee!N ;rVhl D"*]{xYbF]p>P msoN&e3`CtSK5._;zZ],@.{$O7+Clן٬Loo9ƚ7G .|]oXOK3-fFo"@+Iߟ h&V^5Ti^l/c pyܦdj$":& ik? c:VVȣu(L[Y>}GkZR3v˳Z$0=MvM'A,k^y;pq5hWaL.~]OPϩgR|rIW_ԍD xX I RLn|_\_-޸cXр-&0"1Sr lr؃"Z ø'Uچ"Tf{gkuyR 'T.h4$qV.\e^}dXdj^5zD^/-(^`|9 H/a=tYL0-VxmS&f5ZP]aD9)usk{Щ(|[ʢX!Y66|sRDe:8\$5`gD;xb]ă+E?,v.ckOn% )1r62J 4dnT"/bYrJK`Ѿ}f]86N-FИ1kULSM^A25 TBnfh`76!_q9mbh|]LZ@J% 0j :|x|3nlP"O|JYtʁ-/wo_Uh"vE f$ Cs~h P) )ۋiٌ,65%d"s[#@ M)Bm˂?]&dd&bnQz؟~$z _vMB -;bPsbtF7a۽8&hHBWaN&F# h+y@6mHlHv۠1Mj.f kDspBwN;E j ø-~q:i@!^0j4~XT7ӱlngHT?PE?t*c/m"`X0#"}\Gl )Pݪ*FboR{CtcS{-:QbAvhGD4O_"yL1mwGX JO|/I7`ħxN9)w 9DЭccC.@U*لeTsG秶cQ$8D{R%sCRj+V[8*0+Q%j4lh8I aC$٨:9g. UELU`5rR[D#Ut }\Wb#;E&mFect#Ff,=7= 0M9K)*6@[CMrrhE(&p̙J({i_s};'+ .!leԆ]U9nxYis2h_o R0^e}Mw6W +3sb|LnS[G/MPi o,#Hjnx&o˂T V?Ե4J-1AZ>NT /:ǔcfF 3EKKuHxYVk6NM*chvd\CuT=vb)'S/͖SaK iN2KǙ ZU; Z$m,-OALs{G-3DX(Sth9vyhZ^1 ʭ+-: Ƴ#'q:cYj z2u`+S4jw\Vh@8E[շS9Ҋe+p@}faWG0u!RKY-iISѠkDU$R,"b .ӱ'>?N֓$# fe5pv)D_; ڰ1bgEq{Ф;4gkҵh7ynvP,=6vn'Sa̖9~ӏ"À͌1"x8O`ի /J/ Ӝ!<1əj-hihO稃߄U%-S}*JQ5 q2RP"#LJ ~驱wmѫ7&tYR{U]'H\3!̆)Xaъv"ZZkS"s&:W4~*R9QQ> os"S6uVfQnQVV]l*S+4}UkɃvhBLoIKw}w50krn\SڕT$;y,sԆX {ttR a+oĭȼ.4ݱB%gb}s"ƙ;| RІ>.!f4!8-C?f`8-&,>R+%:s,{rŢ/³{="_32J9pw9}lvZjTbի4ݬOCG]u Y `cNZa>/kV 2/,{=D^_<.5L[ƐS˶|d.K 3:0m:6pfm"7Ñ0f|RItN qK3rXk Y#vg*8>cc/0t4X$G"y`-)&Щ&}_5g:l׭֫))OrZҁkc!* GToPКh.qeP `Y$-KDd?\}٥^ kV'*`y@ ϗIHj҂ΡFGS<CBZ7(ບndM;a}kZI'7E7/Ov^ [=Fث|[Orꋋ#Clo旿:&HF(rA4Bh&g+8`WvkV[|[FEDfνTjy؝8ί7G) z 4ަBbY oj|=U|Eb\:I-*aTꬋk=4wܜ-.} :K9xYBna똾"d ͹hɄrlJ ?#.YMj]);$oH^= 7V+VdYՖ/;ykۼvqWeNʠ@8m֭vXskw гd٩ysA*n@@x[#au!$YT?xk"s5 EcI;`=$]+F=ZպSY#b^t$!JWt|6Bt~ z·XzɊ\M yrI3+oLhn:ǁqWnbש-ql˃Δ6bo}8/enK鯗cu`2Vj`,hYtU. MTpl1P ۵P ?~&kzpP֕<>*h_tP\lA-A9žF'r&c|}:>/~fl57~U/GbEZߨFrkDYgaBW@Y\l|h]VT-lȪƪ<+@nvA%Zv 8ԌXӶyZә¦.~OjʮTUc X+ N*ڄNMn]oR,_DWk4s;MyǢ,h1@R, -ar^'` QU^sh!07b}#҉qz/ُHW*>օ.vGKG:6lAlU PXmKĐK5bXڛ Z+d j0QKCjҳm*9*]v 0$wʙOOm$dSYIB1qf( QPPXh):G24)Zf[ixA(\9C_'8ve%4bǔLq+д|">XөF=GhyѸȖ8ȗ<a|_8ڻ_FUyV7P0fnڪ3eYBڒ5n~xN~Z(;vUv^nre\JIN}۠Rrsgo Rĺ?X_6'-p(=pѵM)@= iDҊ߮v Qi38mSq eACXh6_v"E nd]̬WFQX{Z/s;"g: dgECp*0AˍhRԮ!_aWgˈBm&3mc>Ӎ%Yp$HXٽʰ|X?Qʅ}?)8鍸v| 4-NrQԗ,:IĉImgSٙ|Dec~55u&eФmPYk/Hɇn+(CHf{㛇QTYF0Tr\wЌ}ȦݲP;}=-ANeYX+b{c[!at|M?2j{ĸu,Pz^SZJX/6IO'v m8021/ZCꤍ7e;m蠉Q⥹$ 1,Y'<؛e)'d i%3z\nLA.{ 9!"ƻxs`;ϙU7$,Bh7ZcD,|,\WrH%q1kT4lCLyl)Ti(rDpeD3BMi2 iI0íaF.01W\b \@_]mV;Vȳk6^)!dQԗ"G٤E y6 UpG3Ui!z6t`=!o\)\bw-:Tμ$tԻ3`mCbUk@BpfC> 2J:`BxYG}]w)=wnc֋$Sc:1]_N} KZEF^[>~L1h㐂ZiSV{i;vf:CkZanDPfd<&)؏墥9@͋>F:~욇5n 'zu4ӹ8LC h߷^v}W.{꟭5*#Aw|ug ᝇ<ݰ(!.F!5 Lqp>sbwSZZCgO!b ,} g^t#ǠFѻ| KX*_nW]hr_X `^!_PEv@q&"$%'E ŎfO Rmx䞳 y1$F>r&IGg"ά2yQ2g5K qL Dm`[G*rhm; YMnMm$VU^X?Z'1<'*ǮiܒqlJ>frcTrb‡ zdf)GL–Y>ƒEZpbzD 5iyfT؜_EȨLj2sGؤ#l8*[FΤtkm^cP^=e1)DxSdqHPevS=nCm@p59Rit΍sP&ĽW7zH*թR;0uz >C MBGyZߟ)g'K3je~5 eɏ61&HFX)x)m:.HHxm:$%kѝMD"[Ch٬.Ko[i="4>(qF҈M[ϣ(-kUE%|V;L@ MY&|:5x_>轎|@W mP^yBk6bY8!NhЪNm< S"ZE1RT.O=s9첏RDZ@uTb?zcu"34q^P\z`I@~lhp}b-$LU{ue)X: J-?b=A՞G> N/A%k}Q]y찞Puk.<6$? ɚ$+?[xN ͷ`wgw0Z
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1