5 comments about Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life.

1. This book is a good way to get a fresh look (forty of them) at Churchill, but not a good way to approach him if you are starting from scratch. It's not a conventional biography - read at least an encyclopedia article first. The author captures different angles of his life in each chapter, using a variety of techniques. I found it an engaging read and recommend it to anyone who wants to think about Churchill or sort the facts in one's head. I won't spoil what I thought was the most interesting way to look at Churchill suggested by Rubin...



2. I bought this book while I was writing a book of my own in which Churchill is a central figure. I wanted new insights on the man, and listening to the author on a radio talk show, I thought she might be able to provide those for me. I was sadly disappointed when I started reading the book.
   
   The title comes from the fact that Rubin offers 40 exceptionally brief chapters (3 to 5 pages in length) that offer a different "perspective" on Churchill. The idea probably sound very good and innovative as a book proposal, but it is such a shallow account that the reader can be excused for feeling deceived. Chapter three is nothing more than a listing of people Churchill met during his life. Chapter fourteen is nothing other than a listing of facts about the man in bullet format. Each chapter as three complete sentences. Another chapter is a collection of quotes from him and another about him.
   
   I spent good hard earned money on this book, if you choose to read this book I suggest you borrow it from the library instead.



3. I was well on my way to reading "everything" about and by Churchill by the time I came across this wise and wholly admirable book. The magnitude of Churchill's life and times, and the tragic figure he cut--tragic in the full Greek sense of all that is necessary to constitute true tragedy--can create among some people an almost insatiable appetite for details. I would have to be counted among them. Frankly, I thought this book might make an interesting "snack" between the stack of Churchill books I'd just read and the stack I was about to. Instead I found that 40 ways... was a full course meal. What the author has accomplished is much more substantial than I would have thought possible in such a slim (for Churchill anyway) volume. You recognize that an individual's greatest strength must necessarily be the source of their greatness weakness, a self portrait reflected in a double edged sword, so to speak. I was impressed by the case she made that the times he lived in floodlight these strengths and weaknesses to further define him, and because there was greatness in Churchill, to help define the very times in which he lived.
   
   I was perhaps skeptical that this reduction and summation, pro/con approach would prove to be "gimmicky" or perhaps a shortcut to a more scholarly undertaking. Now I feel that the "gimmick" was instead an apt and inspired construct for examining an enormously complex thing. (It's a methodology that would be useful to apply to FDR, among others). To Rubin's credit she hasn't used this format to avoid judgment, but to elongate the period of consideration before judgment. I've read enough about the man to have done very well on the true/false test, but I still spent a long time pondering the several questions I got wrong. The test reminded me again that the complexities of his life are almost beyond my ability to assimilate them. Hence the fascination I suppose.
   
   Some years ago I was very impressed and moved by a biography of Brahms written by Jan Swafford. Swafford makes the point early that Brahms had been very fortune in both the timeframe he was borne into and in the timeframe of his death. Swafford's take was that the music world of Vienna changed immensely after 1897 and it had been Brahms' good fortune not to live to see it. I was struck at the time by looking at lives that way and Rubin makes a similar and equally valid point about Churchill in her book. He was unlucky to have outlived his time and was in a sense victimized by the nearly indestructible constitution that had served his so well for the first 70 years. There is no shortage of first-hand accounts of Churchill's flirtations with real danger. He was well aware of the historical advantage he might have had if he perished under heroic circumstances. He also enjoyed the adrenal rush these occasions afforded him. Of these accounts, none is better than the biography of his personal bodyguard of approximately twenty years, Walter Thompson, "Beside the Bulldog". More on his book at the close.*
   
   
   I noted with special interest the author's mediation on the subjectivity of biographers and the essential criteria she establishs for evaluating a life. Her comments on Manchester's "knowing insight" into a single photo of Churchill's mother illustrate the need for caution before you make a commitment to a particular version of Churchill's story and the thousands of pages that may go with it. Rubin has done a service to readers and biographers both, clarified the task for writers to come and possibly even established some ground rules. While the sales numbers for this book (and I've no idea what they are) may not suggest broad influence, I'm confident that the methodology used will have larger ramifications for a future generation of biographers. Would-be great writers long for a subject through which they can imbue their own greatness. This process of subverting one large ego for the other, a process that can subsume many years of the writer's life is full of temptations and seduction. It's almost inevitably that the writer's own feelings influence what gets exposed and what gets tidied up. The end product edges towards a symbiosis of the subject's life and the particular aspects of that life that speak to the author's own experience and or fascinations. By comparison, Rubin's approach in this book feels free of artifice. It's the case where not spending a dozen years of your life on a single project is actually a good thing, not just for the author but for the book as well.
   
   (For Churchill fans, my favorite first-hand account of his life is Walter Thompson's (to be re-released in print in late 2007). If you haven't read this former Scotland Yard detectives' account of the near twenty years he spent by Churchill's side than you have missed a great treat, for nowhere else does Churchill live and breathe as tangibly as in these pages.
   
   Thompson joined up with Churchill around 1918 and stayed with him through the end of WW 2. There were some years during the 1930's that Thompson was assigned elsewhere, but he did accompany Churchill to the US during the Al Capone years of the 1930's and was there when Churchill was hit by a car crossing against traffic in NYC. He was by Churchill's side during many of the secret FDR meetings, on ship and at The White House for Christmas. His take on things goes a long way towards answering many of the questions your book raises, though of course, Thompson hide things as well, both about Churchill, himself and the harsh treatment he received from Mrs. Churchill, who resented his constant presence to the extent that she frequently refused to feed Thompson while assuring her husband that arrangements had been made for him. Thompson's take on FDR, though only a small part of this book will interest historians. Thompson's displays a vivid command of the language, considerable wit, and more uniquely, he conveys an unusually keen sense of place. Marry those talents with his genius for sketching characters with deft precision and you get a compelling book. The panorama of Egypt, Morocco and the Gaza Strip, (eerily unchanged) circa 1920 are but a few locations that unfold before the eye. Add laying bricks next to Churchill at Chartwell, carrying Churchill's paintings materials throughout the world, (most notably in Marrakech and France), meeting Mussolini, dodging shrapnel on rooftops during the blitz and Thompson's fascinating and very favorable account of T.E. Lawrence (which led me to The Seven Pillars of Wisdom)and you've got an account unlike any other. The book Churchill's Bodyguard by Thomas Hickman will be re-released this fall. He substitutes Thompson's exceptional prose with his own dry and rather academic voice and while Hickman's account fills in the storyline for Thompson's own complicated life, it's not a substitute for the original).



4. Finally, someone wrote a biography of Churchill that didn't require a 6 month commitment. I have always wanted to read a biography of Churchill but they were all soooo darn long. Gilbert, Manchester, Jenkins.....the shortest is over 1 million pages long!!! (Okay, a bit of an exaggeration). 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill is the first Churchill biography to come along that can be read without having to quit your job to finish it. The format is unique and enjoyable. 40 very brief chapters that each cover his life from a different angle. The book is also an enlightening exposition on the biography genre itself. It was a very easy read. Many reviewers have complained that it is disjointed, superficial, gimmicky, repetitive, and/or self-contradictory. Some of those points are valid. I'll briefly address these one by one:
   1)Disjointed: Necessary given the format
   2)Superficial: Okay, then go read one of the 1000+ pagers.
   3)Gimmicky: I rather like the "40 ways" format
   4)Repetitive: True. That's why I gave 4 stars instead of 5
   5)Self-contradictory: This is deliberately done to show how the same set of facts can yield entirely opposing conclusions. I think this is one of the book's best attributes. It doesn't arrive at artificially certain conclusions like other biographies tend to do. True to its title, it shows the different ways to look at his life (he's a drunk/he's not a drunk, he was a natural leader/he wasn't, etc).
   
   In short, you may be disappointed if you re a Churchill buff but I recommend it if you just want a taste of who he was. It's an entertaining, well-written, easy to read book (if not comprehensive).



5. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it allowed me to read about Churchill without being drowned by extraneous facts, battle details and drawn out war discussions. This format offers 40 "Thoughts" about Churchill and even manages to play devil's advocate. It is perfect for a reader who wants to understand his complex character without being overloaded by biographical facts.

5 comments about Winston Churchill: A Life (Penguin Lives).

1. Publisher's Weekly is entirely mistaken, in their comments above, in suggesting that Sir Winston Churchill once belonged to the Labour Party.
   
   He never did, of course.
   
   Churchill did, however, cross the floor to join the Liberal Party, often making common cause there with his Liberal ally David Lloyd George. He left the Liberals and returned to the Conservative Party (at first, as a "Constitutionalist") in the 1920's...
   
   Alan D. Hyde



2. Let me make clear at the outset that I am no historian. Indeed, I wouldn't even qualify as an amateur historian. I am just your average 30-something fairly ignorant reader living a period of love for more or less recent history. Given this premise, I found this little book quite perfect for what I was looking for.
   
   This is a short, entertaining, and VERY well written biography of one of the greatest men in the 20th century. Because of the serious limits of my knowledge on the subject, I certainly cannot judge on the accuracy of the reports. However, to the best of my knowledge, the author is considered a reputable WWII historian. Indeed I liked this book so much that I also purchased his history of WWII. You can read this book in a day, and it will entertain you like a good novel, while also informing you as few novels would do.
   
   I would not pay too much attention to those reviewers that complain about this book not delving into Churchill's shortcomings as a man or as a politician. This is a very small book, about 190 small-format pages. You can hardly expect a comprehensive treatise from such a book. Also, I suspect that emphasizing Churchill's shortcomings would be like emphasizing Hitler's moments of tenderness with his lovers or with some German children during the Nazi regime. I mean, they surely happened, but it's not what you want to spend pages on, if you have only limited space to devote to the topic, isn't it? Besides, even if the Churchill that emerges from this book is certainly a truly great man, he does not emerge as a perfect great man. To me that was enough, and I am glad I read this book.
   
   I am grateful to the author, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a short, beautifully written biography of this man, to whom I certainly owe something...



3. Doubtless this biography is insufficient to really understand Churchill, but for those who are fairly ignorant of the man, it provides a useful quick sketch, and perhaps a jumping off point for further reading.



4. In 1895 when his father died, the sickly and indifferent 21-year-old military cadet Winston Churchill was flat broke, the legacy of a father who was a compulsively extravagent wastrel.
   
   Lord Randolph had been syphilitic since early youth. His mother, American-born Jennie Jerome whose father was a stockbroker and part-owner of 'The New York Times', was always attracted to men other than her husband or her sons (Winston, born 1874, and John Spencer, born 1880). In modern terms, they were trailer trash; in Phoenix, Sheriff Joe would have set aside a bunk in his tent-city jail for Winston.
   
   But, instead of slums, Winston was born and brought up in Blenheim Palace, built 1704-22 and still one of the great estates of England. American ex-presidents get palatial libraries as their memorials; the British rewarded their leaders with mansions and great estates. Blenheim Palace was one of the finest, far better than the estates later awarded to Nelson and Wellington.
   
   Perhaps it was the milieu of Blenheim Palace, but Churchill matured into a man absolutely convinced of the majesty of the British virtues of patriotism, loyalty, courage and fair play. For him, being British meant manliness, courage, tenacity and ultimate moral decency. It resonated with the vigorous American spirit of Theodore Roosevelt and the beauty of the strenuous life.
   
   President George Bush is reported to keep a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office; perhaps as a reminder of the complete contrast to himself. Bush ducked the Vietnam War in the Texas Country Club Air Guard; Churchill eagerly sought war, even though he hated it.
   
   Like Ulysses S. Grant, Churchill was a gifted wordsmith instead of a stumblebum. He free-lanced as a journalist while serving as a British officer and was sometimes earning 20 times his military pay. He never stopped learning, he wanted facts, order, reason. His mother sent him crates of books while he was on duty, and he devoured them all.
   
   Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener described him as a "medal-hunter" and "self-advertiser" who was "super-precocious" and "insufferably bumptious." It was a good assessment. But, the public loved his books and even the Prince of Wales praised him. Whatever one thinks of Churchill, his career and successes are due to his own effort, intelligence, work and nerve.
   
   In brief, this is the story of a man who might well have ended up as a Soho souse, but instead became the greatest man of the past century. He did it through his own efforts, not because of Daddy's friends, money or ability to pull strings.
   
   This book defines the character of a great man.



5. I've never been a big fan of Winston Churchill, but after reading esteemed historian John Keegan's succinct biography of the man, I must say that I like AND respect him just a little bit more. Keegan himself confesses that he never thought much of old Winston until he stumbled across an old recording of his speeches (in NYC of all places) and realized what a gifted and inspirational orator and leader he was. He led his beloved Britain through her darkest hours in modern history, to a victory that was anything but assured. The people seemed to genuinely love him, and his sentiment was seemingly mutual.
   
   His years as Prime Minister during WW2 are the most well known, but Churchill led an amazingly full life, and his life of public service began way back in the late 19th century. Keegan describes how the young Winston, who did poorly in school, but had an undeniable intelligence, educated himself in politics, history and the English Classics. He was a romantic who was in love with his small island nation, and he dedicated his life to it. He was a brave soldier who served in numerous wars, including WW1, and while it would be fair to say he was a little too fond of war, he was no different from the average English officer of the time in this regard. In my eyes, his major fault was his hypocrisy. It just seems hard to reconcile his staunch imperialism with his constant talk about the virtues of freedom and liberty, and how Britain was the main proponent of such things. I would have liked for Keegan to address this point a bit more, but for such a short biography, I can let it slide.
   
   I was intrigued to learn that Churchill and IRA founder Michael Collins were on friendly terms and greatly admired each other. In fact, Churchill apparently had a "gut sympathy for fighters" which is why he had more respect for the Irish and Boers of South Africa than he did for Ghandi and his passive movement in India.
   
   Anyways, the book is extremely well written and entertaining, and I found it to be an overall excellent introduction to the life of one of the most important figures of the 20th century. 4.5 stars.

5 comments about The Path to Power.

1. Sure, I have a personally inscribed copy, and consider this book one of the greatest treasures of my library, held along with the cherished memory of meeting Lady Thatcher. But, as you know by now, I can remain completely objective. This is a wonderful book.

   If you are at all interested in Torys, conservatives, or strong female leadership, this is a must read. I found the discussion fascinating, although, yes, as an attention span challenged American, a tad tedious in spots. However, it's well worth the effort.

   Also look for "Downing Street Years", for additional writings by Lady Thatcher.




2. In this book, the prequel to her more successful (and essentially more interesting) volume entitled 'The Downing Street Years', Margaret Thatcher gives us a glimpse into her life, and the events and people who shaped her, basically, who made her who she is.

   You'll learn about her time at university, her early days in politics from a personal standpoint (for instance, she used to do her own ironing to press dresses immediately before going out, as she couldn't afford to have them pressed, and other small details like this abound), early days in the government and then leading up to the time in opposition prior to the elections of 1979.

   Thatcher also adds a postscript to this book, completed after the account of her time as Prime Minister, in which she gives her prescriptions for a better Britain and Europe (in some ways, she might agree that her stance on the Eurocurrency is a la Nancy Reagan, i.e., 'Just say No!'). She has a few swipes at John Major, the man she helped into power, perhaps hoping to be able to be an active and effective agent from behind the scenes. Major retaliates a bit in his own autobiography.

   In all, unless you're REALLY into British politics or Thatcher personally, this book could be easily missed. Read 'The Downing Street Years', and, as I've seen you can often pick this book up for some bargain-bin price, buy it so as to have the set. And you might peruse a chapter here and there.

   It does have a good style of writing, but goes on quite a bit. Historians will appreciate it, but I often wonder if politicians think that most will actually read through all this material, considering they are invariably written when the author is off the centre stage?




3. How did a young woman from nowhere (Thatcher describes her childhood background in the kindest way possible but it was the last place you'd expect to find greatness) rise to become a politician and then Prime Minister of Great Britain? Baroness Thatcher tells the story of her life with humor and restraint. She never uses being a woman as a crutch or excuse and although she obviously loved her husband and children the main focus of the book is what was going on in her head. Tough, stubborn and bold she slowly pushes forward through school, through a legal career, through the back benches and finally when the chance for the highest office in the land comes her way she pounces on it.

   Path to Power is excellent reading for those who find Parliment to be incomprehensible, for those who wonder if an American woman can ever be another Thatcher and for those who simply like a Horatio Alger story. Now, is it a bit dry? Yep, it certainly is but you didn't really expect gooey girl talk from Margaret Thatcher, did you?




4. A Decent Memoir, June 28, 2004
   
   This was a decent read, though I think that Lady Thatcher hastily wrote it as a prequel to the more celebrated "Downing Street Years." That being said, it was interesting to read about her rise from backbencher to Conservative Party leader. In grabbing the reigns of Tory leadership, she toppled a mindset that accepted Britain's economic decline as being part of "the natural order of things." She also offers insights on the European and international scenes during the middle to late 1970s. On this, she criticized the idea of detente as being a recipe for disaster. The memoir ends with Britain's so-called Winter of Discontent, which propelled her into Downing Street.



5. Just how did the grocer's daughter end up on No. 10 Downing Street? Grit, conviction, and her famous steel backbone combined with an razor sharp wit to boot. Lady Thatcher rivals Sir Winston Churchill as being one of the greatest international leaders of the 20th century. This is her own account of the path she took to topple decades of Labour Party Socialism that crippled Britain. But what do you expect from someone who would let nothing stop her? At 17 the young Margaret Roberts was refused recommendation by her headmistress to receive a scholarship to Oxford University. The reason was that she did not complete three years of Latin. Margaret went directly to the Admissions office and challenged the entrance exam. She crammed three years of Latin into three months and sat as an independent. Margaret aced the test and studied chemistry at Oxford before becoming a tax lawyer and politician. Thatcher stood up to the coal miners, stood up to the unions, and stood up for Britain. She earned the title Iron Lady by taking a stand and never bending in the name of popularity. Her wrath was to the debilitating social welfare state what Churchill's "Bulldog defiance" was to the Axis powers during WW2.

No comments about Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945.

4 comments about Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.

1. Seldom have two heads-of-state been better matched to work for common goals than were Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. However, neither their personal relationship nor their political one was as placid as usually portrayed for benefit of the general public on both sides of the Atlantic. Nicholas Wapshott's dual biography, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage, offers a more realistic look at the personal relationship that helped change the course of world history by so directly contributing to the end of the Cold War.
   
   Reagan and Thatcher, whose terms in office overlapped by the eight years of Reagan's presidency, first met in 1975 at the suggestion of a friend of Reagan's who believed that the two would be natural political allies. At the time of their meeting, Thatcher had just been elected Conservative leader and Reagan had just finished his second term as governor of California and was being pressed by some for a run at the presidency. On that eventful day, the pair found their political views to be almost identical and they forged an alliance, both personal and political, that would remain strong and productive throughout Reagan's entire term as President of the United States.
   
   Margaret Thatcher saw Ronald Reagan as an inspirational figure but Reagan's tremendous respect for her political skills, and his willingness to listen to her and to take her advice on a regular basis, placed Thatcher in the unusual position of being almost an unofficial member of the Reagan Cabinet. As a result, Thatcher influenced American international policy like no world leader other than Winston Churchill had ever done before her. She was not afraid to make demands of Reagan and she found him a willing listener who could often be moved in the political direction that she preferred as British Prime Minister.
   
   That is not to say that Ronald Reagan always gave in to Margaret Thatcher's arguments, but she knew that she could always count on Reagan to give her point-of-view a fair hearing. Together, the two leaders hastened the demise of the Soviet Union by keeping the "heat" on its leadership and by engaging their two economies in a spending war for military weapons that the Soviets could not long sustain.
   
   On the surface, the two seem to have had little in common. Thatcher's formative years as a shopkeeper's daughter, with a religious father who seldom allowed alcohol in his home, was very different from the childhood endured by Reagan, son of an alcoholic father who could barely afford food and shelter for his family at times. But remarkably Thatcher and Reagan ended up with the same strong beliefs that nothing was more important than family and religious faith. Both believed in hard work and developed a true appreciation for those who made their living in "trade," producing a strong belief in each of them that everyone deserves respect and fair treatment regardless of social class or financial worth, lessons that served each of them well in their political careers.
   
   Nicholas Wapshott's use of the treasure trove of hundreds of recently declassified letters, notes, transcripts of telephone conversations and recollections of many who witnessed the relationship as insiders has resulted in an effective political history of the eighties and the kind of dual biography that political junkies everywhere will enjoy. Taken alone, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher would have likely been recognized as remarkable politicians, but taken together as a unified team with common goals they enjoyed the kind of success that the pairing of George W. Bush and Tony Blair could only dream about. What they accomplished by joining forces was astounding.



2. This dual biography details the remarkably parallel lives of two of the late 20th Century's most influential world leaders. Both were raised "above the store" as children of merchants, though Thatcher's father owned the store, whereas Reagan's hard-luck father never did. Both were insurgents and change-agents in traditional, staid political parties. Both were freedom-promoting anti-totalitarians deeply committed to breaking the legacy of Yalta and, in Reagan's words, "transcending" Communism. Both enhanced their reputations for firmness by staring down powerful unions -- PATCO in the U.S.; the National Union of Mineworkers in the U.K. Both furthered national restoration, in part, through controversial, but ultimately successful military expeditions.
   
   Making use of newly released correspondence, diaries and phone transcripts, journalist Nicholas Wapshott mines the depths of the Thatcher-Reagan political partnership. Like any marriage, they did not always agree. And at times, the disagreements were quite contentious. For example, the iron-willed Thatcher is seen upbraiding Reagan in strong terms over U.S. resistance to her Falklands action; Reagan's decision not to consult Thatcher before launching the Grenada invasion, and U.S.-led restrictions on Western companies supporting the Soviet Siberian gas pipeline. Reagan's zero-option nuclear gambit at Reykjavik also drew a stern post-mortem rebuke from Thatcher. Reagan is seen parrying these hot critiques with charm and diplomacy.
   
   Reagan and Thatcher, of course, came to dissimilar ends. Reagan quietly disappeared from public life (even before the onset of Alzheimer's), while Thatcher, felled in an intra-party coup, remained an outspoken, if somewhat embittered commentator on world events.
   
   Wapshott's book is not an authoritative biography, but it does provide revealing insights into the most intimate and successful trans-Atlantic political partnership since Roosevelt and Churchill.



3. Nicholas Wapshott gives us a dual biography of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and what he calls their `political marriage' during the 1980s when they were the hugely popular leaders of the United States and Great Britain. He shows us their childhood and the unlikely careers that finally lead to the White House and #10 Downing Street. It is interesting to remember that Thatcher's period as Prime Minister began before and ended after Reagan's Presidency. However, Reagan seemed to leave office with greater comfort than Thatcher did. Of course, Reagan was term limited while Thatcher ended up being undermined by her party as well as the accumulation of political missteps.
   
   Wapshott presents their careers and lives in a largely positive light, but does not shy away from criticism. Nor does he favor either Reagan or Thatcher. He shows the strengths of each as well as their blind spots. What the book excels at is showing their friendship and its being stronger than their sometimes vehement disagreements. These periods of confrontation are fascinating. The book bills itself as featuring previously unpublished correspondence, and it delivers these very interesting letters, but there are not as many of them as I had expected. This doesn't detract from the book in any way, but I just thought you should know that this isn't primarily a book of correspondence between the two world leaders.
   
   Were Thatcher and Reagan as important a global leadership team as Churchill and FDR? Maybe not quite, but their partnership during a critical period of the Cold War certainly helped it become a period LATE in the Cold War. Wapshott is not so sure that they caused the fall of the Soviet Union as much as they were in office when the USSR ran out of gas. While I am not a scholar of the period, I lived through most of the Cold War and followed it closely. I have no doubt that Reagan and Thatcher led the West and made things sufficiently more difficult for the Soviet leaders that they did contribute to its demise. And I am delighted each day that they did. You can't point to the way the West has muffed the post Cold War relationship with Russia to judge it any more than you can say that the Cold War makes our victory in WWII less victorious.
   
   A solid, concise, and interesting telling of these two lives on the world stage.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI



4. If there was anyone who truly bestrode the 1980s like colossi, it was Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. While they acted upon the world stage, the other nations were forced to deal with them - were forced to react, while they acted. Together they reinvigorated their nations, challenged and defeated the Soviet Empire, and reshaped the modern world in ways that are still being felt some twenty years after their passing from power.
   
   In this fascinating book, author and journalist Nicholas Wapshott, draws on interviews and hundreds of personal correspondences to give a full view of their relationship. Theirs was not the simple, distant relationship enjoyed by most national leaders, instead their relationship was more like a marriage. They shared deeply-held values, they talked out and often fought over policies, and proved impervious to any attempts to set them against each other.
   
   I must admit that I really loved this book. I came of age (politically) during the Carter malaise, and remember the Reagan era with great affection. Plus, what Conservative does not fondly remember Britain's Iron Lady? This book does an excellent job of giving the reader an inside view of the relationship between Reagan and Thatcher, and really explaining what happened between them and what it meant for the rest of the world.
   
   I think that this book does a great job of giving the reader an insider's view of the 1980s, informing and explaining. This is one of the best books I have read in a while - and I read many good books - and I do not hesitate to give it my highest recommendations! Buy this book!

5 comments about Churchill.

1. This was a fine biography on Churchill. At its heart, this book is a comprehensive political summary of one of the world's best politicians. Jenkins does a great job of surrounding the moment with context and analysis. His mastery of British politics is unreal.
   
   With all that said, the book did have a few flaws. First, it was hard to grasp the ins and outs of the British political process which Jenkins discusses at great lengths (this could be my fault as I am an American). Second, there was not enough character development. Jenkins references countless people, but does not take the time to highlight, or bring about, who ultimately has a major role. To this end, I feel there was a certain extent of "name-dropping" in the tome. At times, this made the book harder to navigate through with ease. Finally, I don't know French or Afrikaans, or Latin. So those phrases in foreign languages fell upon deaf ears (or perhaps blind eyes is the more appropriate description).
   
   Overall, a great book. I enjoyed Jenkins mastery of the subject matter, and his writing is fantastic. I have not read other Churchill bios before, but would certainly recommend this to a history buff.



2. Think Robert Kosowsky's review is pretty much on the mark.
   
   Historical events are not presented except in relation to timing and political positioning by Churchill and others. For example, if you don't know about the Dardenelles operation of WW1, this book will not help you. Despite the final line of the book, this is not uncritical of Churchill and at times makes him appear to be motivated by politics as much as anything else (the author was a MP and in the Cabinet so was a political animal too). This does not ring entirely false as it makes it easier to understand his switching of political parties. And this makes it a good counter to Churchill's own books which are at times clearly self-serving.



3. For several years I have wanted to read a biography on Churchill. This past summer I finally broke down and purchased the 900+ page book written by Roy Jenkins.
   
   It has only taken six months to finish it. True, I had a dissertation to write and exams to study for. But regardless the book was slow going.
   
   The author is a politician and a writer - much like Churchill. Consequently, Jenkins focuses the book on the intricacies of Churchill's political and journalistic careers. Fair enough.
   
   Churchill's political life and to a lesser extent his various literary endeavors are key to understanding Britain's greatest prime minister. But the details, though interesting, slowly wear down the resolve of the reader.
   
   For example, the beginning and ending of the book flows well as Churchill's family heritage and retirement are explored; in other words, the parts of Churchill's life which are the least political and literary.
   
   Yet by the time we reach his parliamentary career and the two world wars the book descends into minute detail. Minute details about his toast filled summits with Stalin - interesting. Minute details about his administration of the Admiralty - not so much.
   
   Further, he dedicates a surprisingly small amount of space to some very important events - such as the Battle of Britain.
   
   Yet, to be fair, Jenkins provides an excellent overview of Churchill's life. It is also inevitable that certain areas of interest to the reader will not coincide with that of the author.
   
   Indeed, the biographer's experience in British politics provides rare insights: the great PM's great ambition was getting power, using power and retaining power. So, the way Jenkins skillfully dissects and interprets Churchill's various power struggles makes the book worth reading.
   
   Summary: The book is a great introduction to Churchill, with a special focus on his political and literary careers. Yet the combination of the books length and the author's devotion to great detail could prove fatal to the unmotivated.
   
   I would recommend the book to anyone interested in 20th century history, modern British history and of course Churchill. But I would recommend that the reader take long breaks between each of the six sections.



4. This is too long - all biographers should read and learn from Lytton Strachey.
   
   But Churchill's life was so over the top that its nevertheless an enjoyable read; more so with two provisos:
   
   1. You have to be at least constructively disposed to Winston. Better still if you downright adore him, as Roy plainly does.
   
   2. The most lovingly recounted incidents are those that took place in and around parliamentary life, the life that Roy Jenkins himself knew best. Its very, very well told, but if you didn't happen to be an MP yourself you might find it a little too detailed, in the sense that what others might consider to be the main story seems to be lost sight of, sometimes.



5. I didn't finish this book. Jenkins just throws his note cards at the hapless reader. The editor was awol. Stick with Gilbert. Alternatively, start with Manchester's unfinished bio (to 1940) & then switch to Churchill's memoirs.

5 comments about Never Give in: The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill (Leaders in Action Series) (Leaders in Action Series).

1. In reading the reviews under this section, I find that a reader either loves this book or hates it - there is very little middle ground.
   
   I believe those who discount this book are looking for an objective work on the history of Churchill. While this is a very fascinating subject, the market is saturated with such works, so if that is what you are looking for, go elsewhere...
   
   Those who love the book don't seem to place such emphasis on its historical precision; rather on the value of the information as it pertains to their own lives and leadership styles.
   
   I found this book to contain many great nuggets of wisdom and my highlighter saw much action as I poured through the pages.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their leadership qualities. If you are looking for a historical masterpiece, this isn't it nor did the author intend it to be...



2. 
   Delight is an expected find when reading works on or about Winston Spencer Churchill. Joy is the confirmation any time these works attain to the stature and measure of the man. Refreshment is the derivative as joy and delight meet in a polished offering like 'Never Give In.'
   
   Stephen Mansfield has once again done well and served all parties equally in dispensing this gleaned narrative of the Twentieth Century's self-recognized 'Great Man.'
   
   A man's man for all seasons, highlights of the legendary Churchill are brought forth in a parade of honed chapters refined like glistening diamonds. Those seeking heavyweight analysis will even so finish the book satisfied, while newcomers will be impressed especially in these breathtaking times.
   
   Mr. Mansfield wisely moves through Churchill's life subject by subject, examining deftly moments which shaped the Character that so helped weld the first half of this century just gone. Superlatives tax the description of this work that may, in the field of Churchillian retrospectives, become the essential tome for both those initiating study, as well as we who yearn for one more look at a superb man under fire.
   
   The most excellent aspect of the work is Mansfield's examination of Churchill's testimony regarding Jesus, a subject far too long neglected. As is the practice learned from the Master, the best is always saved till last.
   
   TL Farley,
   author,
   When Now Becomes Too Late,
   Distant Reaches
   
   When Now Becomes Too Late { Print Edition }
   
   When Now Becomes Too Late { Kindle Edition
   
   { Prophecy : The Rapture in Brief ! }
   
   
   Distant Reaches { Print Edition }
   
   { True Life Adventures in Ireland, Boston and on the North Atlantic }



3. This book challenges you and tests your knowledge and paradigms.
   I found it thought provoking, intelligent, and sophisticated.
   This should be a must read for everyone who seeks truth and meaning.
   Way to go Mr. Mansfield!!!



4. I'd recommend this book not "only" because of the great information on Churchill's life struggles and events. I'm recommending this book mainly due to the writer's superb writing. I never thought I'd read a biography in one sit. You just can't stop reading, your eyes roll through the text with so much ease and pleasure. You feel Churchill's hardships, his courage, his character. Great book.



5. Mr. Mansfield has done a very nice job. He writes with the presupposition that history is the outworking of the providence and plan of God, a presupposition I accept, and which I believe is overwhelmingly confirmed by history itself. We all view the world through our presuppositions, and none of us can claim "neutrality." Those who "ding" Mansfield for his Christianity or for illuminating the Christian faith of his subject miss the point of the book. Would you have us all live in the ghetto where the only view allowed is secular humanism? Thankfully, we still live in a country where one is allowed to have Christian presuppositions. It was Mansfield's purpose to write from this point of view. If you "ding" him for having that purpose, then are you not saying that there should no freedom to express opinions different from your own? I am most amused by the reviewer who implies that Mansfield cannot understand England because of that country's current spiritual condition. Surely Churchill's England was different from today's England. England's decline (and our own here in America) can be directly traced to abandoning the Author of our lives and freedoms. Mansfield makes the point that Churchill understood England's place in preserving the freedoms of its Christian heritage, not only for itself but also for the western civilization, against the Nazi threats (definitely not the forces of goodness and light).
   
   This history is written by a Christian (Mansfield) about a Christian (Churchill). If Churchill was, indeed, someone who experienced true conversion to Christianity, then his faith would have permeated all that he was and did. It would and did give him the necessary heart and spirit to persevere under severe trial. Conversion is not a matter which has no impact upon the personal and professional life of a man - it will govern all that he is - his thinking and life.
   
   What a great little book! I am also delighted to discover that Churchill, when asked whom he should like to be if he could not be himself, thought about it and answered "Mrs. Churchill's second husband." All of his manly achievements notwithstanding, that aspect of his character put him over the top in my estimation.

1 comments about Clementine Churchill: The Biography of a Marriage.

1. This biography gives great insight into the lives of the Churchills'.It was written by Mary Soames, the youngest child of Winston and Clementine Churchill. It was amazing to see the love and devotion Clementine and Winston had for each other. They were ever faithful letter companions from the start of their romantic and strong relationship. While reading the profound letters they wrote to each other you feel as if you were there with them, feeling every emotion they felt. This biography also includes great stories and antecdotes that will keep you laughing, crying, or shouting for joy for hours. The effects this biography has on you are numerous, but the strongest one would have to be one of awe. Their marriage is a marriage to look up to. They did have troubled times. Like, when Winston went to join in the action of World War I after his loss of the position of First Lord of the Admiralty. Or of the times before WWII when Winston was trying so hard to get people to listen to him about the danger and potency of Hitler and the Nazis. They stayed together in good times and in bad and in sickness and in health. They stayed together until the death of Winston. I highly recommend this book so that you can experience this wonderful and lasting marriage and all that comes along with it.

5 comments about Churchill: A Life.

1. If you like Churchill and would like to know a on of info about him, more then just clever and witty quotes, then this is the book for you! Great book!!



2. If you are new to Churchill - this is the book to buy - its in paperback which is a drawback, however the skill Sir Martin has put into this compliation and chronology of his works on Churchill make this one to read, have and use for study.
   
   It has many quotes and not all from Churchill along with some amazing photos.



3. Even the most historically illiterate students are familiar with the role Winston Churchill played in the victory over Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, many students of history remain uninformed of the true breadth and scope of his life. This work, a condensation of Martin Gilbert's earlier two volume history, is an excellent antidote for such ignorance.
   
   It is no exaggeration to credit Winston Churchill for the survival of England in the years between the fall of France and the U.S. entry in the conflict with Germany and Japan. Such was the lingering horror of the events of World War I, that Churchill was virtually alone in fighting the appeasement policies of his own government which contributed to the early success of Nazi Germany.
   
   But, it should be noted that Winston Churchill was in his mid-60s when he became Prime Minister of a coalition government formed to prosecute the war with the Axis powers. He already had 40 years of parliamentary service under his belt, stints as First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I (where he presided over the disastrous Gallipoli campaign) and Chancellor of the Exchequer, service in the trenches of World War I as well as the Boer War and the Sudan campaign, time as both a war correspondent and published author.
   
   Despite this nearly unprecedented scope of accomplishments, were it not for the rise of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler, he would be virtually unknown outside the realm of British historians. For, as great protagonists and great events are required to bring out the greatness of our heroes (Grant needed Lee, Caesar, Pompeii), none is a better example of this than Winston Churchill.
   
   Were it not for Adolph Hitler, Churchill would have likely served out his later parliamentary years as little more than a back bench Conservative crank, labeled as a warmonger and kept on the fringes of party politics. Even in the months preceding the invasion of Poland, Churchill was kept outside of the Cabinet of his own party's government. He was never neatly pigeonholed in the existing English party system. It was only the formation of a coalition government that allowed his ascension to the Prime Ministership. As it was, the perfect combination of personalities and events allowed Churchill to achieve greatness on a historical scale. It is no accident that almost immediately following successful conclusion of the war, Churchill and the Conservative party were bounced from power by the Labour Party, only to be returned to face the Soviet Union in the early stages of the Cold War. Churchill was a "crisis" manager and ill suited for periods of peace and tranquility.
   
   As a man in his late 60s and early 70s, Churchill displayed an endurance and a level of accomplishments nearly unprecedented in human history. Consider that he likely logged more miles of travel (both in the air and on sea, during a time of great danger for each) and wrote and published more works of literature than nearly anyone else alive during a period when he was quite literally standing alone in what was almost a personal fight for the continued existence of the British Empire. The catalog of heart attacks and strokes suffered and recovered from are a source of absolute amazement
   
   Now, it is a common failing of many biographers to enhance the accomplishments and gloss over he failings of their subjects, and I doubt not that Gilbert has done so here. However, the historical record is quite clear and Churchill's life and accomplishments are well documented. His love of the grog is rarely mentioned, though it was obviously a personal vice which he passed on to his children. His relationship with his wife seems quite unusual, though perhaps not so in the context of Victorian and early 20th century upper class English society.
   
   Gilbert's writing style consists almost entirely of reference to and quotation from letters, diary entries and other correspondence to, from and about Churchill. While this would seem to create a work both choppy and halting, it is quite the opposite. Gilbert does a masterful job splicing these observations into historical events and produces a smoothly flowing and captivating narrative which should be required reading for any serious student of modern history.



4. There are biographies and then there are biographies! This is one of those that belong on that lofty summit above those that try to ascend to such heights but fail miserably because they are either rather dull bios about rather dull people or the biographer is simply not up to the task. Martin Gilbert is most definitely up to the task and more.
   
   This is an abridgment of the eight-volume edition written by Winston Churchill's official biographer Sir Martin Gilbert. I was rather reluctant to buy it because it looked rather daunting being 959 pages long but wanting to know more about Sir Winston Churchill my curiosity finally got the better of me. Not only did this book reveal things about Sir Winston that I did and did not know but also the author's prose and vocabulary made this an absolute pleasure to read. I was very reluctant to finish this book simply because I wanted more to read. If you don't know much about Winston Churchill then this is the book to get. Even if you do know quite a bit about Sir Winston Churchill I'm sure you'll find a few things in here that you may not have known. If you are looking for bios that are well written, or any book that is, then this is one for you. Buy it and enjoy!



5. This book is a wonderful achievement, and paints a portrait of one of the 20th Century's most decisive political figures. List the top five and you would have Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, and perhaps Gandhi and Mao, but Churchill would have to be in the top five by almost any reckoning. By that token, almost anyone interested in the political and military history of the Century ought to have an interest in Winston.
   
   There is more to Winston, however, than just the War, which in any case we should not mention for fear of upsetting the German guests. His life is an exciting enough story in its own right. Born to a great Parliamentarian, he was probably fated to be another significant figure whatever happened, but Churchill had a habit of making political enemies, as the book clearly documents. On the other hand, he was a genuinely larger-than-life character in his own right, and probably irrepressible. At any rate, this biography provides enough material to speculate either way. This is a man who left a comfortable seat in Parliament to join a unit in the trenches of France in the Great War, for instance, although he clearly did not find it that great and came away with impressions of modern technological warfare which he desperately tried to share in the following decade. These impressions began to form even earlier, when he joined the Boer War as a correspondent and simply could not keep himself from leading the troops he was meant to be reporting upon. When captured, Churchill alone escaped, stowed away in a railway wagon full of coal sacks and when he reached a British Consulate, practically his first act was to telegraph the camp commander to exonerate the Boer guards of responsibility for his flight. Clearly this is a many of rare qualities and needs to be read for his personal merits alone, let alone his place in history!
   
   The book is perhaps a little heavy-going on account of its near 1,000 pages, but leavened with Churchill's familiar wit. Churchill is often abused by the right in justification of the latest proposed war, and by the left as an imperialist and gasser of Iraqis, but this account paints a picture of the Churchill the British grew up with - the lone and indefatigable hero steering the country through a shared destiny, indomitable in public but occasionally plagued with doubt in private. The great irony of his life may be that he was to lead a war that he felt to have been unnecessary and that, having passed on, his name is invoked again and again to justify more unnecessary wars of which he would undoubtedly have disapproved. The boom reveals this magnanimous and conciliatory side, as well; no petty bully of the weaker or the defeated was Winston.
   
   While it documents a whole life, when considering Churchill we will always come back to his wartime premiership, and rightly so. The lasting impression which this excellent biography leaves is that history itself knew this and was preparing him. No matter what scrapes and adventures he thrust himself into, he survived to meet his date with destiny, and this book makes you feel that he was being saved for it.

5 comments about The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932.

1. This fully lives up to its reputation as perhaps the best biography ever written. Manchester does a peerless, masterful job filling in the background colors and giving a complete picture of Churchill from a young man into his early fifties. As Manchester emphasizes, this background was essentially the decline and fall of the British Empire and the aristocracy who ran it. Manchester's main point, that Churchill was a Victorian who also lived in the twentieth century, is brilliantly made. Churchill himself is presented in all his perplexing, influriating splendor: an impetuous, charming, ambitious genius who all too often jumped out of the plane without a parachute. If you wish to know why he was rejected by the British people at the polls just after his greatest triumph (and job done) this fascinating volume of his early triumphs and memorable failures is indispensible (answer: they needed his boistrous energy in war but they didn't trust him in peace



2. William Manchester is a tremendous writer. A man like Churchill deserved to have his biography writted by a writer as gifted as him.
   I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting, not only to learn much about the great man Churchill, but also to have their mind expanded and stretched by excellent literature like this. There are not many people writing like this today, sadly enough.
   This is not an easy read, in fact most people will do well to have a dictionary near by - but it is worth it. Drink deeply and you will learn so much more than you would have thought possible about the world from the late 19th century up through WWII.
   Drink it up! 6 stars.



3. This is a very good analysis of Churchill, a thorough and colorfull portrait of a man I consider to be the greatest man of the 20th century. I have only two complaints, first I would have liked to have known more about his life with his wife and children. I also would have liked to have known what he thought of the Lusitania sinking. Not only does Manchester say nothing about Churchill's role in this business but the word Lusitania is not mentioned at all in nearly 2000 pages. Very strange. The letters of Churchill point out the chivalrousness and romantic nature that the public has not seen. All in all - very good and well worth a good read.



4. The finest biography of Churchill (and one of the best biographies of anyone else) ever written. Manchester is unequaled in providing a balanced, thorough and readable product. Only down side is that he died before completing the third and final book on Churchill.



5. yeas the most popular book on sir winston but mistakes are in it and volume three will appear after a 20 years break .