Churchill"s First World War, volume I, is outstanding because he was personally involved at the time. That fact gives one an insider"s view of the strategic and political forces at work at the time. There is a great deal of detail here that one does not find in standard histories, and insofar as he served as first lord of the admiralty there is much on naval matters not covered elsewhere. He does pound his own drum a bit, but that does not detract from the events as they unfolded.