The author of the best-selling Passages and

Pathfinders, one of the most insightful and

provocative chroniclers of our times and lives,

has written a fascinating and wholly original

book. What is it that shapes character and

drives individuals to aspire to ultimate leader-

ship? Given the hair-trigger global village that

we all now inhabit, our ability to discern and

weigh the innermost nature of our leaders be-

fore they dominate our television screens and

take control of our fates has become crucial.

For this learning process, there could be no

finer guide than Gail Sheehy.

Here are George Bush obsessed with being

liked and avoiding confrontation; the gravely

war-wounded Bob Dole battling a dark side

that believes the breaks are against him; Mike

Dukakis, the wunderkind who remodeled him-

self in midlife; the coolly calculating son of

Dixie, Albert Gore; the self-destructive Gary

Hart; the surprisingly sweet-and-sour ingredi-

ents of Jesse Jackson; and Ronald Reagan in

twilight, where his nature as a dreamer and his

training as a performer are come to judgment.

In her pursuit, Gail Sheehy has developed a

narrative form far transcending the usual jour-

nalistic profile in length and depth. As she puts

it, "Readers should feel the same cold slap of

insight, awakening them from conventional

thinking, that I feel each time I study the char-

acter of a leader as it has developed." What

these men are made to reveal about them-

selves (and about ourselves as we peer into the