Eminent military historian Carlo D’Este speaks about his new book, Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945, on Thursday, November 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

D’Este’s new biography of Churchill is the first study of the great twentieth century leader to examine his life and accomplishments through a military lens. While countless books have been written about Churchill the politician and world leader, D’Este – author of the acclaimed biographies Patton: A Genius For War and Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life – argues that Churchill saw himself first and foremost as a soldier, and that his lifelong obsession with military history and tactics not only shaped the man and leader he became, but would play a major role in the Allied victory in World War II.

While his pivotal role as a wartime leader is at the center of this new biography, D’Este also breathes new life into Winston Churchill the man. “In no particular order, Churchill was brilliant, pampered, petulant, romantic, pragmatic, courageous, egotistical, eccentric, possessed of enormous perseverance, opinionated beyond measure, and impossibly demanding.” D’Este writes. “He drank too much, suffered from depression (his ‘black dog’), ‘waddled rather than walked,’ and by any criterion ought to have been too old to carry the enormous burden of a prolonged war that threatened Britain’s existence.”

Warlord will be available for sale, and the author will sign copies purchased during the event.