Originally published on October 23, 2023 (Episode 339)
Introduction
The plays of William Shakespeare contain within them a whole world of human action and purpose. They are, said Samuel Johnson, “a faithful mirror of manners and of life.” We seem to watch over Shakespeare’s shoulder as he turns that mirror this way and that—from medieval England to the coast of Bohemia, to republican Rome, to a desert island beset with the spirits of the air.
And from time to time, as the mirror turns, we see our faces there as well. In those moments we sometimes come to realize, writes my guest Eliot Cohen, that while “we like to think that whatever we see in the mirror is beautiful… Shakespeare forces us to realize that there may be ugly or even hideous things there as well.”
Eliot Cohen has been a faithful viewer of Shakespeare’s mirror for many years, and his new book is a distillation of those lessons, shaken together with his equally long study of statecraft and strategic thought. It is The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall (Basic Books, 2023)
About the Guest
Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Robert E. Osgood Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Among his many books are Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime. He has served as an officer in the Army Reserve, as a director in the Defense Department’s planning staff, and from 2007 to 2009 as Counselor to the Secretary of State. This is his second appearance on Historically Thinking; he also co-hosts the podcast Shield of the Republic with Eric Edelman.
For Further Investigation
Eliot A. Cohen, The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall (Basic Books, 2023)
Eliot A. Cohen, Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (Free Press, 2012)
Our sole earlier Shakespeare conversation is “Think More Like Shakespeare” with the charming Scott Newstok
Shakespeare Solos, a Guardian video series of key monologues: here are the first six films; and the second six; and the third and final set of films. Really great
💬 Listen & Discuss
What does Shakespeare reveal about the nature of leadership that remains hidden in political theory and strategy manuals? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this episode along to someone who loves Shakespeare—or politics.
