Life and Times of Lieutenant General Adrian Carton de Wiart - by Alan Ogden

About the Book

"In this ground-breaking new book, Alan Ogden brings to life Lt Gen Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, soldier, statesman and an often-overlooked figure in British Military and Diplomatic History. Framed through the life of Carton de Wiart this book also offers an exploration of important topics and developments in the first half of the 20th-century, including the Boer War, World War I, World War II and Anglo-Sino relations. This biography ranges from de Wiart's early life, his wartime experiences and role as Churchill's personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek. Ogden draws from an extensive array of primary sources including previously unseen private family papers to examine, in exquisite detail, the life and times of a man who experienced the horrors of war to rise up the ranks and become a personal representative of Winston Churchill and then Clement Attlee. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars studying British Military and Diplomatic history in the first half of the twentieth century"--

Book Synopsis

In this ground-breaking new book, Alan Ogden brings to life Lt Gen sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, soldier, statesman and an often-overlooked figure in British Military and Diplomatic History. Framed through the life of Carton de Wiart this book also offers an exploration of important topics and developments in the first half of the 20th-century, including the Boer War, World War I, World War II and Anglo-Sino relations.

This biography ranges from de Wiart's early life, his wartime experiences and role as Churchill's personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek. Ogden draws from an extensive array of primary sources including previously unseen private family papers to examine, in exquisite detail, the life and times of a man who experienced the horrors of war to rise up the ranks and become a personal representative of Winston Churchill and then Clement Attlee.

This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars studying British Military and Diplomatic history in the first half of the twentieth century.

Review Quotes

A masterly portrait of a military legend. Alan Ogden`s meticulously-researched account of the extraordinary life of Adrian Carton de Wiart makes fascinating reading and will appeal to a wide readership.
Lt Gen (retd) Sir John Kiszely, author of Anatomy of a Campaign. The British Fiasco in Norway, 1940, UK

Only one arm, only one eye and somewhat surprisingly only one VC, Ogden captures the spirit of one of the last great paladins. Written with seemingly effortless panache, he conjures up an heroic buccaneering figure from a different age; a model of chivalry and an inspiration to all beaux sabreurs of the future.
General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith KCB CBE ADC Gen, Chief of the General Staff, UK

This is a splendid biography of a quite extraordinary soldier and diplomat whose
astonishing bravery in both world wars led to two VCs and not a few wounds.
Readers will need to remind themselves that this is not a work of fiction!
General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff 2003-2006, UK