"An exemplary and generously illustrated account; it incorporates new historical material, and he describes the journey as if he had been there."?The Times Literary Supplement Gustaf Mannerheim was one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. He spent two years undercover in Asia as a spy, escaped the Bolsheviks in 1917, lead the anti-Russian forces in the civil war and later, during Finland"s darkest hour, lead the defense of his country against the impossible odds of the Winter War. Mannerheim is a fascinating appraisal of an adventurer and explorer who would go on to forge a new nation.