The task this book undertakes is difficult and arduous: many people have traversed history, leaving indelible marks and significantly altering its course. Were they the ones steering the course of history, or were there hidden forces guiding them alongside their societies, or were they simply products of circumstance, yet still able to control its trajectory? Turki Al-Hamad begins by seeking a synthesis of these perspectives. He ridicules the "end of history" theory, deeming it a relative matter, and rejects the "clash of civilizations" thesis, preferring instead a third path. This book sheds light on events of the past century, focusing on the profound impact of a protagonist's presence on the course of events. For this "unusual" task, he selected twenty figures who played a role in shaping the course of their countries... and the world. The figures chosen by Al-Hamad do not belong to a single world or adhere to a single ideology. Gandhi, Lenin, Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hitler, Thatcher, Reagan, Gorbachev, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Luther King, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Abdul Nasser, Tito, Nehru, Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Khomeini and Mandela: names that this book addresses in its "farewell look" at the events of a century ago, and which are figures that history would undoubtedly have looked very different if they had not existed.