David Cannadine has an appreciation for the odd things that have made Britain tick: the personalities and ideas that have bound together British historical experiences. In this book he takes a variety of British icons ranging from Noel Coward to Stanley Baldwin, from Gilbert and Sullivan to Ian Fleming to show the many strange ways Britain has built its sense of self. Above all, looming behind everything remains Winston Churchill. Britain, however much it may twist and turn, cannot shake off being in his shadow even today.