Churchill, Master and Commander

An engaging and detailed study of Winston Churchill''s career as a military commander, from his early experiences in Britain''s colonial wars, through his battlefield experience in World War I, to his strategic command in World War II. This book examines how in high office he got it both right and wrong.

From his earliest days Winston Churchill was an extreme risk taker and he carried this into adulthood. Today he is widely hailed as Britain''s greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin, and his arch enemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander. Again like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals. The results of this were disasters in Norway, North Africa, Greece, and Crete during 1940¿4