Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45. Max Hastings. Harper Press. £25.00. xxiii + 664 pages. ISBN 978-000-726367-7. Churchill's role as Prime Minister has been under serious revaluation in recent years by a host of historians. In this study the author is less concerned with political and Cabinet conflicts than with Churchill's relations with the military and his frustration at its under-performance (in his eyes). In Sir Max's eyes, Churchill remains a 'warlord extraordinary', 'titan' and one of the few 'who proved worthy of the role in which destiny cast him'. It was Churchill alone who prevented a peace settlement between 1940 and 1942 and it was Churchill alone who made sure Britain was not drowned in the wake of American forces after 1941. Quite rightly the author gives more attention to the early years, when Churchill's role was more decisive if not important. Rather than re-use yet again the MSS in the Churchill Archives Sir Max uses the records of those with whom he worked, in Britain, the US and Russia. Churchill was quirky and often wrong but he was always inspiring and could see what others missed, e.g. his opposition to continued bombing of German cities or his insistence that the US join Britain in demanding the end of Soviet terror in Poland (Roosevelt vetoed this). This study does not offer any new MS source that rewrites history but it does use a wide range of sources to make us look again at the unique career of a unique man. (TB.)