#773: Andrew Roberts on The Habits of Churchill, Lessons from Napoleon, and The Holy Fire Inside Great Leaders

Andrew Roberts has written twenty books, which have been translated into twenty-eight languages and have won thirteen literary prizes. These include Napoleon: A Life , Churchill: Walking with Destiny , and most recently, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza , which he co-authored with General David Petraeus. Sponsors: Our Place's Titanium Always Pan® Pro using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals”: https://fromourplace.com/tim (10% off all products from Our Place using code TIM) Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business: https://shopify.com/tim (one-dollar-per-month trial period) LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ users: https://linkedin.com/tim (post your job for free) Timestamps: [00:00:00] Start [00:06:14] Expelled from Cranleigh school. [00:07:14] Why MI6 considered Andrew for recruitment. [00:09:56] The teacher who made history exciting to 10-year-old Andrew. [00:13:05] Words Andrew avoids when writing about history. [00:14:20] Are steady-nerved leaders naturally born or nurtured? [00:16:05] The thinkers who influenced Winston Churchill and his sense of noblesse oblige. [00:18:26] What made Napoleon Bonaparte the prime exemplar of war leadership? [00:24:37] Lessons from Winston Churchill's autobiography, My Early Life. [00:26:22] Napoleon's relationship with risk. [00:29:26] Andrew's signed letter from Aldous Huxley. [00:30:49] When historical figures carry a sense of personal destiny. [00:33:07] The meeting Andrew wishes he could've witnessed as a fly on the wall. [00:34:30] When historical villains carry a sense of personal destiny. [00:37:14] What Churchill and Napoleon learned from their mistakes. [00:39:38] "Dear Diary..." [00:44:00] Maintaining creative flow during the writing process. [00:47:18] On working with brilliant publisher Stuart Proffitt (aka Professor Perfect). [00:52:53] Why are some significant figures immortalized while others go the way of Ozymandias? [00:57:59] Thoughts on personal legacy. [00:59:18] Fiction favorites. [01:02:05] Being objective about the history of imperialism. [01:03:31] The challenges of teaching and learning history today. [01:06:40] Why "Study history" is Andrew's coat of arms motto. [01:10:22] What Andrew, as a history expert, sees for the future. [01:14:01] Counteracting natural pessimism. [01:15:34] What to expect from Andrew's latest book Conflict (co-authored with David Petraeus). [01:19:21] Upcoming book projects. [01:20:26] Parting thoughts. * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast . For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter ( 5-Bullet Friday ) at tim.blog/friday . For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts . Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books . Follow Tim: Twitter : twitter.com/tferriss Instagram : instagram.com/timferriss YouTube : youtube.com/timferriss Facebook : facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld , Hugh Jackman , Dr. Jane Goodall , LeBron James , Kevin Hart , Doris Kearns Goodwin , Jamie Foxx , Matthew McConaughey , Esther Perel , Elizabeth Gilbert , Terry Crews , Sia , Yuval Noah Harari , Malcolm Gladwell , Madeleine Albright , Cheryl Strayed , Jim Collins , Mary Karr, Maria Popova , Sam Harris , Michael Phelps , Bob Iger , Edward Norton , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Neil Strauss , Ken Burns , Maria Sharapova , Marc Andreessen , Neil Gaiman , Neil de Grasse Tyson , Jocko Willink , Daniel Ek , Kelly Slater , Dr. Peter Attia , Seth Godin , Howard Marks , Dr. Brené Brown , Eric Schmidt , Michael Lewis , Joe Gebbia , Michael Pollan , Dr. Jordan Peterson , Vince Vaughn , Brian Koppelman , Ramit Sethi , Dax Shepard , Tony Robbins , Jim Dethmer , Dan Harris , Ray Dalio , Naval Ravikant , Vitalik Buterin , Elizabeth Lesser , Amanda Palmer , Katie Haun , Sir Richard Branson , Chuck Palahniuk , Arianna Huffington , Reid Hoffman , Bill Burr , Whitney Cummings , Rick Rubin , Dr. Vivek Murthy , Darren Aronofsky , Margaret Atwood , Mark Zuckerberg , Peter Thiel , Dr. Gabor Maté , Anne Lamott , Sarah Silverman , Dr. Andrew Huberman , and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .