Author(s): Douglas S. Russell

Military

Considering he has been and will remain to be one of the most studied personalities of the 20th century, relatively little has been written about the miltary service and war experiences of Winston Churchill - even his own writings give scant coverage of this important part of his life, despite his own admission of the impact it had upon him. Most biographies limit their coverage of his days in uniform but this learned and thorough volume, its scholarship a pleasure to read, gives a full understanding of how Churchill's military service moulded his character and how it served him in his political career. His legendary qualities of leadership, personal drive and committment to a cause were all very much honed in his early years when military life influenced his thinking and demeanour. Did the Army make a man of the boy? Did it prepare him for spirited leadership? And what faults and failings did his military life identify to Churchill himself and his contemporaries? This is the most comprehensive examination yet of his formative soldiering career and is destined to become a keystone work in Churchillian studies and late imperial history.