Combines essays on the "personality dimension" in the 19th and 20th century international history, placing in a proper historical perspective the impact of individual diplomats, politicians and military strategists on foreign policy-making.

History is an old, yet constantly changing discipline. Traditionally, the interpretation of the past oscillated between two opposed poles; on the one hand, there were those who believed that events were determined not by individuals but by an impersonal process (though, of course, there were contending views of what that process is, or how it unravels), and on the other hand, there were those who stressed the contingent aspects of politics and history, and hence the impact of personalities. Neither of these two concepts of history is new.