My Early Life
A Roving Commission

This is the story of the first twentyfive years of Mr. Churchills life, up to the point where his unique parliamentary career was just beginning. From childhood and his apprentice days at Harrow and Sandhurst we follow him on active service to Cuba, the Northwest frontier of India, Omdurman and the Boer War (including the historic story of his escape from captivity), while in the background are his early adventures in politics and literature.I have tried, in each part of the quartercentury in which this tale lies, to show the point of view appropriate to my years, whether as a child, a schoolboy, a cadet, a subaltern, a warcorrespondent or a youthful politician....When I survey this work as a whole I find I have drawn a picture of a vanished age. from the authors Preface