Rigorously researched and astutely analysed, this magisterial biography of one of the great leaders of the 20th century brings to life as never before the private as well as the public man. When de Gaulle boarded the small plane that took him from war-torn France to London in 1940, he could not have foreseen the way in which he was launching himself on to the world stage. He was then a little-known figure, a recently promoted two-star junior general acting in opposition to his country's legal government in the midst of catastrophic defeat. But that flight was the start of a trajectory which would see him save his country twice and found a republic - the Fifth Republic - that endures to this day, marking him out as a truly national personage fulfilling an intense sense of manifest destiny. In his twenties, he fought for France in the trenches and at the battle of Verdun. He gave extraordinary displays of political acumen, daring and bluff, heading off civil war and leaving a heritage adopted by his successors of both the Left and the Right. Le Général was an extremely complex man, with deep personal feelings and recurrent mood swings, devoted to his family and often seeking reassurance from those about him. He saw himself as carrying France on his shoulders. Although he insisted on discipline and loyalty from others, yet he was a great rebel, a grand visionary with a vast geo-political grasp and elephantine memory. This massive book reflects all his qualities and defects and must be the definitive account of a unique man. A towering 707 pages with b/w archive photos, notes, glossary of significant people and glossary of abbreviations.