Carlyle's “Great Man” theory and Tolstoy's “Zeitgeist” theory provide two alternative explanations of historical events. Yet a quantitative study of the military career of Napoleon and his contemporaries demonstrates that both views account for a significant percentage of the variance in military success during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Dean Keith Simonton (1979) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: