Max Hastings

After Herbert Curzon fumbles a fortuitous early step on the path to glory in the Boer War, 1914 finds him an honorable, decent, brave and wholly unimaginative colonel. Survival through the early slaughters in which so many fellow-officers perish brings him rapid promotion, and by 1916 he commands 100,000 British soldiers. Unyeilding and diligent, he leads them through the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele. -- from back cover