This is a reprint of an extremely old-school biography (large chunks of Lambe's diaries and letters, no triangulation with other sources, very little context) of Sir Charles Lambe, consummate Edwardian Renaissance man and naval officer--from his 1914 joining of the officer corps, WWI service, inter-war friendship with Mountbatten and Edward VIII, command of the HMS Illustrious in WWII and survival of a kamikaze attack, post-war command of the Mediterannean Fleet and retirement in 1960 as First Sea Lord. Always a connoisseur of art and music, Lambe did things like invite composer Lennox Berkeley to go on the 1950 Home Fleet spring cruise in order to work on an opera about Nelson. and helped his cousin Sir Stephen Runciman study Mediterranean medieval history.