The author, a long time Labour cabinent minister and now a member of the House of Lords, is able to put the life of Churchill in perspective. We get an understanding not only of the man but of the organization he was so long associated with, Parliament, and by extention Cabinet. You realize how amazing it really was for Churchill to be writing books of history while running government departments. Exhaustively researched, Mr. Jenkins's writing is still lucid and not as dry as official academics. For a single volume work on the war time prime minister, this is probably the best there is.