At Oxford during the '30s, Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire tried to be a wild young man. Racing greyhounds, drinking, and burning up the countryside in a sports car were what mattered. His father was a law professor, but to young Cheshire the law held no charms; the war that was blowing up seemed to promise much more fun.
During World War II Leonard Cheshire was a first-class fighting man. In 1943, after completing a tour of operations in Halifax bombers, he became the youngest group captain (equals U.S. colonel) in the R.A.F. He had himself demoted to wing commander so that he could...