# The Great Illusion — Character guide

> Key figures in The Great Illusion by Norman Angell.

- [Homer Lea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/homer_lea.md): Lea belongs to the chorus of writers whose fears of conquest and national ruin Angell quotes in order to refute. His vision of invasion as an existential threat collides with Angell's insistence that modern credit and tr
- [Admiral Mahan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/mahan.md): Mahan supplies the realist creed that nations act only from interest and that commercial rivalry must end in control and force. Angell quotes him at length, then presses the counterargument that economic interdependence 
- [Norman Angell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/norman_angell.md): Angell stands at the center of the book not as a narrator but as a controversialist, quoting his reviewers and rebutting them in turn. He concedes that war remains likely, yet insists its futility can be shown plainly, a
- [Robert Blatchford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/robert_blatchford.md): Blatchford is Angell's most bracing critic because he concedes the argument and denies its consequences. He argues that until war lords, diplomats, financiers, and workers actually believe the theory, its truth changes n
- [Frederic Harrison](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/frederic_harrison.md): English jurist and historian, cited for his views on war and national defense.
- [Theodore Roosevelt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/theodore_roosevelt.md): Roosevelt appears among the influential figures whose assumptions about national greatness and force Angell seeks to unsettle. His presence signals that the illusion of war's profitability is not confined to European cha
- [General Bernhardi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/general_bernhardi.md): Bernhardi supplies the frankest version of the belief that war is a biological and political necessity, not a choice. Angell treats him less as a villain than as a symptom: the logical endpoint of theories that treat con
- [Prince Bismarck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/prince_bismarck.md): German statesman, referenced for his policies and statements on power politics.
- [Lecky](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/lecky.md): Irish historian and essayist, quoted on historical and moral topics.
- [Sir Robert Giffen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/robert_giffen.md): British economist and statistician, cited on trade and finance.
- [Spenser Wilkinson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/spenser_wilkinson.md): Military historian and professor, whose views on national defense are discussed.
- [Winston Churchill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/winston_churchill.md): British politician, cited for his statements on naval power and national policy.
- [Clausewitz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/clausewitz.md): Prussian military theorist, whose doctrines on war are referenced and critiqued.
- [John M. Robertson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/john_m_robertson.md): British politician and writer, cited on economic and historical subjects.
- [Admiral Fisher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/admiral_fisher.md): British naval officer, referenced for his views on naval armaments.
- [Moltke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/moltke.md): Prussian military strategist, referenced for his military maxims.
- [Aristotle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/aristotle.md): Ancient Greek philosopher, cited on ethics and political theory.
- [Baron Karl von Stengel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/baron_karl_von_stengel.md): German legal scholar, whose views on international law are discussed.
- [Leo Maxse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/leo_maxse.md): British journalist and editor, referenced for his nationalist views.
- [M. J. Novikow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/m_j_novikow.md): Russian sociologist, cited on peace and international relations.
- [Sir C. P. Lucas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/sir_c_p_lucas.md): British colonial historian, referenced on colonial administration.
- [William James](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/william_james.md): American philosopher and psychologist, cited on human nature and morality.
- [Lord Roberts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/lord_roberts.md): British field marshal, referenced for his views on national defense.
- [Lord Kitchener](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/lord_kitchener.md): British military leader, cited in discussions of imperial warfare.
- [Ernest Renan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters/ernest_renan.md): French philosopher and historian, cited on nationalism and identity.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_great_illusion_se/characters