History Lessons

Pericles of Athens, Lorenzo of Florence, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Elizabeth I, Napoleon Bonaparte, Zhou Enlai, Ghandi, Lee Kuan Yew – these are just some of the great names who changed the course of history. Far from being dated and irrelevant, their actions and thoughts, and the way in which they conducted themselves in history’s great events, are an invaluable source of lessons and inspiration for today’s manager or executive. In this fascinating, cross-disciplinary book Jonathan Gifford examines ten critical issues (eg, getting the structure right, setting the direction, forging partnerships, making things flourish) facing today’s manager and what history can contribute towards a greater understanding of them. Moreover, Gifford uses the lens of history to provide contemporary managers with new perspectives and solutions to essentially similar problems faced by the great names of history.  


JONATHAN GIFFORD is a business man, historian and author, whose writing focuses particularly on the human aspects of leadership and management. After reading philosophy at the University of Kent at Canterbury, Jonathan worked for a number of major media organizations, beginning his career at the Guardian newspaper in the 1970s. He went on to work for the Sunday Express, the Mail on Sunday, and later for BBC Worldwide, where he launched the award-winning BBC History Magazine in 2000. Jonathan now runs his own company, Gifford Creative, and is a director of the marketing consultancy Bluequest Media. He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and children.