Why Smart People Fail: Lessons on Talent, Ego, and Self-Control from Demetrius the Besieger (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798196773013)

What does it take to fail when you have everything?

Demetrius the Besieger was the most gifted military mind of the ancient world. He built siege engines that rewrote the rules of warfare. He liberated Athens and was worshipped as a god. He won battles that should not have been winnable.

He also died in a prison, drinking himself to death, having lost every kingdom he ever held.

Why Smart People Fail uses the dramatic arc of Demetrius's life - told with the pace of a thriller and the precision of a case study - to examine the specific failure modes of talented people: the overconfidence that early success creates, the ego that filters out unwelcome truth, the discipline that collapses when no one is watching, and the loyalty that drains away in silence before anyone admits it is gone.

Twelve chapters. Twelve historical events. Twelve rules you can use today.

Ryan Holiday meets ancient history. For anyone who has watched a gifted person flame out - or suspects they might be capable of the same.