Winston Churchill was a very human leader, says Churchill and Empire author Lawrence James

More books have been written about Winston Churchill than perhaps any other figure in British history. Do we really need another volume added to the existing library? In Churchill and Empire, the historian Lawrence James makes a strong case for justifying another book for Churchillian bibliophiles. The narrative begins by looking back at Churchill’s career as a young army officer in the late nineteenth century, where he served in conflicts in India, South Africa and Sudan. It ends with Churchill’s slightly deluded view of Britain’s place in global politics as the Second World War is ending: when the British Empire is disintegrating and America is the most dominant superpower on the planet.

James gives an honest and well-researched account of a deeply complex yet extraordinarily colourful statesman. The author is not shy of displaying Churchill’s prejudices, particularly his views on race. But James is deeply sympathetic to his subject for much of this book.