Winston’s Bandits : Churchill and His Maverick Friends

Thoughtoday he is hailed as one of Britain’s greatest leaders, throughout his career,Winston Churchill was an outsider, accumulating a reputation for bad judgementand untrustworthiness. Only risk-takers and fellow outsiders would back him -but these strong and often feuding personalities proved to be vital to hisdecision-making in war and peace alike. Winston’sBandits provides, forthe first time, a detailed account of his greatest friendships. These friendswere Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, a press baron who craved power but only onhis own terms; Frederick Lindemann, later Lord Cherwell, an ascetic andquarrelsome scientist who believed in Churchill’s intellectual genius; BrendanBracken, an Irishman from a humble background who reinvented himself as a majorforce in financial publishing and gave Churchill unconditional support; theyoung Bob Boothby, who would earn notoriety for adventurous sexual conduct anddubious financial dealings; Randolph Churchill, who was often a disappointmentand burden to his father; and Duncan Sandys, who reaped the full benefits ofbeing Churchill’s son-in-law in his political career. Together,they were Winston’s bandits. This remarkable book explores how Churchill’srelationships with these forceful and intriguing sparring partners provide thekey to understanding his greatest triumphs and disasters.