Conductors, including the ones studied in this book, have been scrutinised before, often in considerable detail.

ECONOMIST: Conjurors

To understand attributes of Transformative CEOs Jeff Fox and I studied hundreds of CEOs and outline this new breed of leader in our book, The Transformative CEO (McGraw-Hill 2012).

FORBES: New Research Cites How CEOs Outperform The Market -- Become A 'Transformative CEO'

Art of War: Eagerly studied by military leaders in ancient times, modern politicians and executives now use this 2000-year-old book as a guide.

CNN: Top 10 free e-books

Now, with "Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, " Mr. Platt presents the first book-length foray in this direction, providing a compelling alternative account of much-studied events that feels both a bit old-fashioned (in its panoramic view of battles and leaders) yet also very much in step with recent scholarship, placing national stories into global frameworks.

WSJ: Book Review: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom