John Charmley

Princess Dorothea Lieven was wife to the Russian ambassador in London from 1812 to 1840. As a woman, she was debarred from having any formal power in the world of European diplomacy. But as a Baltic Russian, brought up under the harsh regime of Catherine the Great, Dorothea Lieven was not meant to be the power behind any man: it was centre stage she craved.

Charmley turns to the Anglo-American "special relationship" that was the cornerstone of Churchill's foreign policy, ruthlessly stripping away the myth to reveal the unsentimental reality of the Churchill years and beyond, from 1940 to 1957. With vivid assessments of Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden, John Charmley brilliantly continues his thought-provoking - and sometimes infuriating - ways.

"As Neville Chamberlain lay dying in October 1940 almost the last entry in his diary records him reading press reports of his resignation: 'Not one shows the slightest sign of sympathy for the man or even any comprehension that there may be a human tragedy somewhere in the background.' This book tries to put that right. Most studies of the period assume that the Second World War was, in some ways, a triumph for Britain; this book dissents from that verdict."--Book jacket.

Essays examine Churchill's family life, foreign policy, social reforms, economic ideas, views on Zionism, and relationship with the monarchy and fellow statesmen.