The Handbook maintains the highly successful approach developed by Stogdill. From its introduction of basic concepts to its closing look at issues for the future, it emphasizes efforts to explain and understand what we know about leadership. No imporatnt school of though has been neglected.

The scope of Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership is impressively illustrated by the book's reference list, which has almost double in size from the first edition. The text now contains over 5000 citations.