Michael Ashcroft

In the middle of 2019, Rishi Sunak was an unknown junior minister in the local government department. Seven months later, at the age of thirty-nine, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, grappling with the gravest economic crisis in modern history. Michael Ashcroft charts Sunak's ascent from his parents' Southampton pharmacy to the University of Oxford, the City of London, Silicon Valley and the top of British politics.

The Victoria Cross is Britain's most prestigious military honour, awarded for valour in the presence of the enemy. From the Crimean War to Iraq, it has been bestowed only 1,355 times, proving the recipients' bravery beyond all doubt. Michael Ashcroft has been fascinated by the VC and has assembled the single largest collection of VCs in the world.