"During the Second World War, Churchill's cigar was such an important beacon of resistance that MI5, together with the nation's top scientists, tested the Prime Minister's supplies on mice rather than risk sabotage. Today, Winston Churchill with his cigar remains a global icon, memorialized by a one-hundred-and-one-foot statue of a cigar in Australia, while his cigar stubs are treasured as relics." "Using original archival research and exclusive interviews with Churchill's family and staff, Stephen McGinty, an award-winning journalist, explores Churchill's passion for cigars and the solace they brought. He also examines Churchill's lasting friendship with Antonio Giraudier, the Cuban businessman who for twenty years stocked Churchill's humidor before fleeing Castro's revolution."--BOOK JACKET.