GREAT CONTEMPORARIES is a collection of essays about 21 men whom Winston S. Churchill felt contributed to the course of the world in which he lived. The central theme is a group of British statesmen who shone in the late 1800s and early in this century--Blafour, Chamberlain, Rosebery, Morley, Asquith and Curzon.

Others whose acquaintance we make through Churchill's eyes include George Bernard Shaw, Hindenburg, Lawrence of Arabia, Marshall Foch, Leon Trotsky, Phillip Snowden, Clemenceaus and King George V.

Churchill's long acquaintance with world leaders gave him a unique perspective from which to view actors on the international stage. His assessments sparkle, as do his own qualities, which glow warmly out from these portraits."