This is the story of Winston Churchill's exploits during the Boer War, the springboard from which, overnight, he leapt to fame on the international stage. Within three months of his return he became an MP at the age of 25. Using both British and Boer sources, many previously untapped, Churchill's granddaughter Celia Sandys covers a hitherto neglected part of his life in which he circumnavigated military regulations in order to combine the roles of soldier and war correspondent. Now that the isolation of South Africa has ended, people have come forward in droves to tell the author the stories they learnt at their grandparents' knees. These grandparents recognised in Churchill a courageous ally or a formidable foe. The author has visited campsites, battlefields, and the site of Churchill's incarceration in Pretoria as a POW, and followed the route of his escape to the Mozambique border.