Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
This biography of Field Marshal Lord Roberts charts a remarkable life that spanned the apogee of the British Empire. During a diverse career, Roberts won the Victoria Cross, planned the strategic defence of India, turned the tide of war in South Africa, introduced army reform and campaigned for National Service before 1914. Rodney Atwood explores his military career, in particular his role as a tactician and strategist in Afghanistan, Burma, the North-West frontier, South Africa and Europe, but also looks at Roberts as a symbol of Empire and explores his celebration in British culture.
"Right from the Start is the autobiography of Lord Roberts of Conwy, from his birth in 1930 up to the year 2000, told against the backdrop of his time and its leading personalities. Lord Roberts was the second son of a Nonconformist minister, and he rose from humble beginnings to become a life peer. His life was transformed by winning a scholarship to Harrow from where he entered national service, receiving a posting to Vienna as a member of the Intelligence Corps during the Cold War." "Following a history scholarship at Oxford, Lord Roberts trained as a newspaper reporter and then entered the world of 1950s and 1960s television, bringing him into contact with leading personalities from the literary world, show business and politics. He was in at the start of independent television in Wales and familiar with the 'greats' of the entertainment world from Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones to Richard Burton and Stanley Baker. He entered politics in 1970 as a Conservative MP, starting a career in the House of Commons which lasted twenty-seven years and rose through the ranks from his appointment as a parliamentary private secretary under the Heath administration. After 1974, with Heath still leader of the Conservative Party, he became a shadow front-bench spokesman and remained on the Conservative front bench until his retirement in 1994."--BOOK JACKET.
Bestselling historian Andrew Roberts's much-admired reappraisal of one of the most influential – and controversial – British politicians of the 1930s. A fox-hunting Anglo-Catholic aristocrat, nicknamed 'The Holy Fox' by Churchill for his political guile, Halifax was one of the most prominent Tory politicians of the interwar period. As Viceroy of India, he struck a deal with Gandhi that ended the Civil Disobedience campaign. His meeting with Hitler in 1937 was a milestone in appeasement, yet just days before the infamous Munich agreement, he demanded 'the destruction of Nazism'. By May 1940, for many it was Halifax, not Churchill, who was the natural choice for Britain's war leader. Andrew Roberts' acclaimed biography draws on private documents to offer a nuanced reappraisal of an enigmatic, influential and much-maligned politician.
Excerpt from Lord Roberts: A Biography On this particular ship was a lad of nineteen, small and delicate to look at, so delicate indeed that older people shook their heads and talked of the folly of his facing a tropical climate.' But underneath the apparent delicacy lay a vigorous spirit and a wiry constitution, the love of a simple, hardy outdoor life, the hatred of anything like luxury or coddling. For young Frederick Roberts was every inch of him a soldier's son, and India, the land of his birth, was the land which called him. He came of a fighting and of an Irish stock, and what better combination could be found as an heritage for one destined to be the greatest soldier of his age His great-great grandfather, a Huguenot refugee, settled in Water ford, had fought for England at the battle of the Boyne. Two of his uncles had been in the navy; the one, Sir Samuel Roberts, who had been in fifty three actions, having commenced his adventurous career at the age of eleven, and afterwards had per formed deeds of daring which carry us back to the days of the Elizabethan sea-dogs. And his father, Sir Abraham Roberts, who lived to the age of ninety, has been called the patriarch of Indian Generals, and was a man of strong character, sound sense, and great tact, who won a high reputation for the manner in which he handled critical affairs in Afghanistan. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of 2018 One of The Economist’s Best Books of 2018 One of The New York Times’s Notable Books of 2018 “Unarguably the best single-volume biography of Churchill . . . A brilliant feat of storytelling, monumental in scope, yet put together with tenderness for a man who had always believed that he would be Britain’s savior.” —Wall Street Journal In this landmark biography of Winston Churchill based on extensive new material, the true genius of the man, statesman and leader can finally be fully seen and understood--by the bestselling, award-winning author of Napoleon and The Last King of America. When we seek an example of great leaders with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader immune from the consensus of the day, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when bombs rained on London and so many others had caved? In Churchill, Andrew Roberts gives readers the full and definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy, as personally revealing as it is compulsively readable. Roberts gained exclusive access to extensive new material: transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs from Churchill's contemporaries. The Royal Family permitted Roberts--in a first for a Churchill biographer--to read the detailed notes taken by King George VI in his diary after his weekly meetings with Churchill during World War II. This treasure trove of access allows Roberts to understand the man in revelatory new ways, and to identify the hidden forces fueling Churchill's legendary drive. We think of Churchill as a hero who saved civilization from the evils of Nazism and warned of the grave crimes of Soviet communism, but Roberts's masterwork reveals that he has as much to teach us about the challenges leaders face today--and the fundamental values of courage, tenacity, leadership and moral conviction.
A comparison of nine leaders who led their nations through the greatest wars the world has ever seen and whose unique strengths—and weaknesses—shaped the course of human history, from the bestselling, award-winning author of Churchill, Napoleon, and The Last King of America “Has the enjoyable feel of a lively dinner table conversation with an opinionated guest.” —The New York Times Book Review Taking us from the French Revolution to the Cold War, Andrew Roberts presents a bracingly honest and deeply insightful look at nine major figures in modern history: Napoleon Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, George C. Marshall, Charles de Gaulle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Margaret Thatcher. Each of these leaders fundamentally shaped the outcome of the war in which their nation was embroiled. Is war leadership unique, or did these leaders have something in common, traits and techniques that transcend time and place and can be applied to the essential nature of conflict? Meticulously researched and compellingly written, Leadership in War presents readers with fresh, complex portraits of leaders who approached war with different tactics and weapons, but with the common goal of success in the face of battle. Both inspiring and cautionary, these portraits offer important lessons on leadership in times of struggle, unease, and discord. With his trademark verve and incisive observation, Roberts reveals the qualities that doom even the most promising leaders to failure, as well as the traits that lead to victory.
