Unlike other biographies of Charles De Gaulle which chronicle the life of a public figure known personally to the authors, this one sets out to present the essential facts of his life whilst introducing material of a more personal nature which is intended to help the interpretation of the facts and De Gaulle's motives - for example, his lifelong thorny attitude to Britain and America. De Gaulle was a product of 19th-century provincial society of Northern France - austere, Catholic and nationalist. It is Charles Williams's contention that, whilst there may be others who will be as great, and they may be French, it is in his single-minded devotion to his country and in his skill and strength in pursuing it that De Gaulle can be regarded as the last great Frenchman. The author (Lord Williams of Elvel) was a leading banker before concentrating on politics and becoming the Labour Party's Spokesman on Trade and Industry, and then Energy.