"George Nathaniel Curzon's controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of his country's empire to the traumatized years following the First World War. As viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and foreign secretary under King George V, the obsessive and tempestuous Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour's book - now with a new foreword by the author - is an assessment of Curzon's character and achievements, offering a dramatic account not only of a remarkable public career but also of a turbulent private life, with its infamous vendettas, many long friendships, and passionate, risky love affairs." "Born into the ruling class of what was then the world's greatest power, Curzon was a fervent believer in British imperialism who spent his life proving he was fit for the task. His prodigious energy made him the most traveled minister ever to sit in a British cabinet, a writer of immense volumes on Asia, and a compulsive restorer of ancient buildings in Britain and India. Often seen as arrogant and pompous, Curzon was loathed as much as he was adored, his work disparaged as much as it was admired. In Gilmour's lucid and highly original work, he emerges as a complex, contradictory figure, a man of great talents and glaring defects whose career was a blend of triumph and disappointment."--BOOK JACKET.