Winston Spencer Churchill was an extraordinary combination of soldier and statesman. Of aristocratic birth, he enlisted as a cavalry officer, saw action at the Battle of Omdurman and, as a civilian, reported the Boer War for the Manchester Guardian. Captured by the Boers, he escaped dramatically, and the popular appeal of his exploits helped him into a Parliamentary seat. At the outset of World War I he became the First Lord of the Admiralty and acted as the initiator of the Antwerp and Gallipoli campaigns. These failed to bear fruit and he became a colonel in the front line on the western front. At the end of the war, his political life followed a chequered career until he received the call to become prime Minister in May 1940. In this role, many thought he proved to be the saviour of his country. Dr Henry Pelling gives a biography of the great war leader.