Samuel Pepys is perhaps the best-known instance of the zest and versatility that characterize the second half of the 17th century, but his cousin and patron Edward Montague, first Earl of Sandwich, and the subject of this biography, offers a no less striking example. He was a successful soldier, a brilliant admiral, a Fellow of the Royal Society, an ambassador charged with the most delicate negotiations and the general overseer of Britain's overseas trade and first uncertain steps in the development of a colonial empire. He was especially valued and liked by both Cromwell and Charles II and was highly praised by both Milton and Clarendon. Yet when he was killed in one of the fiercest actions ever fought he was not yet 50. This biography is based on a study of his journal which was illustrated by his own drawings, many of which are reproduced in this book. The author also wrote a history of the Civil Wars, a contrasted study of Charles I and Charles II, and a biography of Clarendon, Sandwich's friend and colleague in the Restoration government.