Tolstoy had a theory that history wasn’t made by famous or powerful men, but that certain times and events drove certain men into prominence. When those circumstances changed, the men vanished into obscurity, or were consumed by the very events that inspired their fame.
Napoleon was one from Tolstoy’s period. Churchill came later but suffered much the same fate. And then there were the Jacobins and the other victims of the French Revolution ...
[[When those circumstances changed, the men vanished into obscurity,]]
Prime example was Lewis and Clark- who rose to the occasion, accomplished an astonishing feat (with the help of Sacajawea) and then afterwards Lewis i believe it was (mighta been Clark), went on to obscurity- dying in poverty and depression