Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Prologue: ‘A Bold, Bad Man’

Introduction: ‘A Tragic Flaw in the Metal’

1 ‘Rule Britannia’

2 Family and Friends

3 ‘He Uses It as an Opiate’

4 A World in Torment

5 The Great Corniche of Life

6 ‘This Wild Cousin of Mine’

7 ‘The Forty Thieves’

8 The Smiling Orchards

9 Tragedy Strikes

11 ‘Where Are We Going in Europe?’

12 Imperial Dreams

13 ‘I Will Take What Comes’

14 ‘A Seat for Life’

15 ‘The Courage and Instinct of Leadership’

16 The Comfort of Friends

17 ‘The Dark Horse of English Politics’

18 Fleeting Shadows

Epilogue: ‘He Would Make a Great Prime Minister’