Duff Cooper, statesman, diplomat and author, was born in 1890. He won the DSO as a second lieutenant in the First World War, and pursued a successful political career until 1938 when, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he resigned in protest at the Munich Agreement. Called back to office in 1940, his wartime career culminated in his appointment as Ambassador to France. Among his best-known books are Talleyrand, Sergeant Shakespeare and his autobiography, Old Men Forget.