5 comments about A Journey: My Political Life.

1. It was 0830 on 1 September 2010 as I walked past a large London bookshop. The window display comprised 2 books - one of which was this much awaited Blair Memoirs. Mine was the first copy sold. Whilst political insiders will doubtless find much over which to raise their eyebrows, my own surprises were over his relationship with his immediate successor Gordon Brown. Don't you just hate it when people say "THEY KNEW" that such and such was going to happen but did nothing to prevent it from happening when they had the power to make a difference. In this work, Blair actually claims to have known Brown would be an awful Prime Minister. Well, we can all say that - after the event. More importantly, he also admits that he failed to sack Brown for fear of creating problems for the Labour Party and accelerating Brown's succession to Number Ten! I found this difficult to digest.
   
   This is neither a pro nor anti-Blair review, it is based on his book and his revelations. A couple of years before standing down in the most diabolical fashion ever!, Blair stated he would reduce immigration to the United Kingdom to a certain figure by the September of that year. Eventually, however, nothing happened because he was unable to make any difference whatsoever. Now ask yourself this; If the Prime Minister is unable to change things, who can? Because of his disclosures in this book, for the very first time I have begun to see Blair as a weakling. Here is a man who admits to crying because a soldier was killed in Iraq. Well what did he expect? Here is a man who would not remove or even demote Gordon Brown for "FEAR" of the consequences. Not a strong man then! Here is a man who admits to having turned to drink because of the pressures of the job. Definitely not! Altogether, I began to feel so disappointed in this man, it came as something of a betrayal. Perhaps we were all fooled to some extent by the young, pretty boy, self assured image - although it is an image that has now also caught on in other parties!
   
   The memoirs commences with the revelation (for those who did not know!) that, as he entered No 10 for the first time as Prime Minister, he had not previously held any government post whatsoever - not even a junior post. From there he went on to change the face of British politics, change the face of the Labour Party and introduce several American-style techniques by employing spin-doctors to provide the most positive gloss onto anything that might be perceived as unsavoury. It really is a candid and revealing exposé of the man in charge for all those years and for that he must be applauded.
   
   Only now, however - some two years after stepping down, do we read this personal account of those years only to learn it appears he became a victim of his own spin. In so doing he leaves a lingering question over whether or not he was ever completely suited to the job. This book has changed my perception of so many aspects of British political life in general and Tony Blair in particular. No longer will I blame Gordon Brown for the financial mess in which the UK finds itself at this time. Why? Because it is abundantly clear from this book that Brown should never have been Chancellor and the only person able to remove him from that post had become frightened of replacing him.
   
   My own political inclinations are simple; I subscribe to the view that one must vote for the party who will best look after your own personal interests. Having read this book, my personal assessment of Tony Blair - as a person, is reduced to the minimum ONE star rating. That said, the book itself is easily a FIVE star product and, therefore, well worth reading.
   
   NM



2. 
   
   First my objective analysis: Blair was Labor leader in 1994, and rode that position to become Prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labor's history. The book contains 22 chapters covering the period 1997 to 2007. There is a chapter dealing with 2007 - 2010 which are issues that are current and subsequent to his service as Prime Minister. As you know all biography is subjective and selective, and this book is no less so than others. The book's most interesting chapters are:
   
   
   3) New Labor
   
   5) Princess Diane
   
   6) Peace in Northern Ireland
   
   8) Kosovo
   
   12) 9/11 "Shoulder to Shoulder"
   
   
   My Subjective Analysis": Tony Blair can write, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You know an author is at the very top of his form when he can put together sentences in such a way that you say to yourself, if I had a month to think about it, I don't think I could have put it any better.
   
   
   An example is in the introduction, where Blair states the American burden is that it wants to be loved, but knows it can't be. Love is given to nations with which we sympathize...powerful nations aren't loved...they have to be feared by their enemies.
   
   
   Blair also seems to be excellent at understanding the world leaders that he developed extensive personal and long relationships with. This includes Vladimir Putin, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama. Listen in just a few words at what awaits you:
   
   
   Bill Clinton - The Prime Minister found Clinton to be, "The most formidable politician I ever met, actually a brilliant President. He made it at times look easy."
   
   
   George W. Bush - Blair thought Bush was straight forward and direct. He says about Bush, "The stupidest misconception was that he was stupid" - great intuition, less about politics, more about he thought was right and wrong.
   
   
   Barack Obama - This was a very interesting observation. "This is a man with steel in every part of him."
   
   
   You will love his candid analysis of all the major players in the world. However as is true in most autobiographic materials, Blair is less candid about himself and his shortcomings. There is very little about his upbringing or what brought him to his political beliefs. Regarding Iraq he is unapologetic about leading his country to war when there were no weapons of mass destruction. It seems he is trying to sway history here, more than the current reader.
   
   
   Blair also states that his interest in religion was greater than his interest in politics, but then tells us nothing about how his religious beliefs have impacted and shaped his political beliefs. All in all this is a GREAT READ, and I urge you to do so, if only to get a wonderful understanding of how a foreign leader who had an understanding of America in this time viewed our country through his own informed lens.
   
   
   Blair will always be remembered as the man who brought the Labor Party into the 21st century by getting rid of the concept of nationalization, and let's disarm by ourselves. He also was quite eloquent in explaining our President's position on Iraq better than our President was. Small failing's aside, I think you will love reading this book, and thank you for reading this review.
   
   
   Richard C. Stoyeck



3. A real slog getting through all those pages but eminently informative and entertaining if you stick with it. Blair was, in my view,one of the few competent, honest, and courageous politicians I've ever experienced or read of. There is far too much ground covered in the book to offer any true 'review'. I feel poorly to see people (such as Mr. Assim, who has also reviewed this text)be so profoundly influenced by left wing media or ideology. They just don't seem to get it. Hussein did his level best to convince his enemies (and, in the process, the rest of the world was also convinced), that he had high levels of WMD. In fact much WMD was discovered, albeit not nuclear. In my view,most responsible people in the free world would have reacted the same way as Blair and Bush. Has Assim considered where Iraq would be today had Hussein not been toppled? Likley it would be on the same short list with Iran and North Korea. This book, in my view, offers enough insight to Blair to reinforce the views expressed above.



4. When you already know so much about the Author, such as the taking a country to war based on lies, it's difficult not to ask the question: how do we know what he says is true? after all there is more scrutiny in government then at the publishers.
   
   He states: "I feel desperately sorry for them, sorry for the lives cut short, sorry for the families whose bereavement is made worse by the controversy over why their loved ones died, sorry for the utterly unfair selection that the loss should be theirs."
   
   That's not an apology, he says he feels sorry for them not that he is sorry - he even chooses his words carefully.
   
   Here is one example: Post-war: "we did not anticipate the role of Al-Qaeda or Iran"
   Making political points whenever possible! I expected to find out why he invaded a country for an oil agenda even though based on everything he said Iran or North Korea seemed the obvious targets to invade considering the humanitarian position of Iraq, but wait, despite the world knowing the Iraq has that tasty crude oil, instead we are again fed lies and our intelligence is insulted vis-a-vis wmd's.
   
   Well done Blair, you proved to the world colonialism and exploitation still exists and woke many people like me up in the process. The book is about a journey that culminates in mass murder. For these reasons this book scores ZERO, this a politicians book, and would suit nicely the fiction section



5. Mr. Blair has fascinating insights into our times and especially into the leaders who have been on the world stage during his years in politics. He speaks as if he is chatting to you over a cup of coffee...yet his thoughts and conclusions show deep thinking and understanding. Much more than simply reviewing the events he has been part of, he evaluates, assesses, and judges the importance and substance of these recent years. A great book...

3 comments about Churchill's Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made.

1. i did not become her majesty prime minister to see the brekout of the empire . churchill said . his refusal to grant dominion status in the thirties is typical . nevertheless he had to give way this book explain the story of a man who saw the empire at his zenith , and saw it fades away. informative book .



2. A quick overview of Winston Churchill's long career with the focus on his interactions with the lands that were once part of the British Empire.
   
   The British professor Richard Toye's book seems accurate but somewhat superficial when one considers the complexities of such big issues as home rule for Ireland, the Jewish state in Palestine, the racial divide in South Africa, and the eventual partition of India. A first time reader about Winston Churchill or one lacking in last century's historical background may feel somewhat lost. However, other readers, especially those more familiar with Mr. Churchill's life story, may be inspired to do further in-depth reading about any number of the issues touched upon that still reverberate in today's world.
   
   (One Hollywood story on p. 307/308 with foul language seems to me a pointless addition to the epilogue of this book.)
   
   Mr. Churchill was a great man, but a man of his times--especially in his attitude toward those other than white and less than civilized.



3. At some point in 1942,Churchill declared that he did not become a prime minister to preside over the dismantling of the British Empire. His views about the many peoples that were living under the British were well-known. Racist and derogatory terms about the "African savages", Asians and Indians made up his many speeches. For him,Gandhi was a subversive fanatic,while the white man was superior to any other race on earth,thus his Anglo-Saxon superiority mode of thinking.
   Although his greatness,Churchill was also a racist who thought that the British Empire was destined to live forever. Mackenzie King,the Canadian prime minister,wrote that the "British Empire and the Commonwealth are a religion to him". Churchill dismissed the notion of Indian independence,claiming that the Indians were not a nation at all.
   Toye has written a balanced book about a controversial leader, and does not condemn or praise him. He lets the reader pass the final judgement.

5 comments about Churchill.

1. Purchased for my father-in-law as a birthday gift, he's a Churchill fan. He was delighted but wanted more.



2. The Washington Post review is on target. This adoring biography subjects Churchill's policies to uncritical scrutiny, excusing every blunder as the fault of others. Most egregious--he blames the success of Nazism on the unwillingness of Churchill's colleagues to support intervention in the Russian civil war following the Bolshevik takeover. According to this interpretation, if Britain had sent more troops, the Communists would have been defeated, Stalin would never have happened, and fascism would not have succeeded. The causal link there is not spelled out but evidently in his view Europeans supported fascism to escape Communism.



3. Johnson, the "great explainer" of modern times and expert dissector of the pretensions of modern intellectuals, has been coasting on his reputation of late. ART: A NEW HISTORY was robust (and colorful) enough, but I wasn't particularly taken with either CREATORS or HEROES. With this engaging "quick sketch" of the life of Winston Churchill, the author is back on form. Some snarky reviews to the contrary, this is not a hagiography, though it certainly gives Churchill the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Its simple goal is to explain why Churchill must be regarded as a major historical figure, regardless of what one thinks of the man and his policies.
   
   The book divides neatly into two sections. Part one is a more or less straightforward biography which takes us up to the point at which Churchill first became Prime Minister in 1940. Johnson avoids the cliche of saddling Churchill with all the responsibility for the failure of the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16, instead focusing on other, rather less dramatic examples of Churchill's tendency for occasional lapses in judgment. Foremost among the latter is Churchill's bull-headed defense of King Edward VIII during the 1936 Abdication Crisis. This stand had severe consequences for Britain, as Churchill became so unpopular that his (increasingly heeded) warnings of the menace of a rearming Germany were tossed aside as a result.
   
   Johnson then devotes the bulk of the remainder of the volume to an analysis of Churchill's record as a war leader. Johnson sees Churchill as the "indispensable man," the key to Britain's survival, and lays out the reasons why. These reasons are generally convincing, though I wish that even more was made of the salient fact that Churchill regarded both forms of 2oth century totalitarian tyranny -- Fascism and Communism -- as equally evil. While always willing to "jaw-jaw" to preserve peace whenever practicable, he did not fall into the trap of "pas d'ennemis a gauche (ou a droit)" that hinders a sense of moral clarity. One wonders how history would have been altered had Britain and the U.S. heeded Churchill's advice and met the Red Army as far to the East as possible.
   
   The book's ending is its weakest point. Johnson skims over Churchill's second premiership (1951-54) with indecent haste and concludes with a list of "lessons Churchill teaches us today." The latter has the tone of a particularly uninspired business seminar, while it is telling that Johnson prefers to tell us what Churchill did not do during his second turn at the top. (A.N. Wilson's OUR TIMES treats the second Churchill government in a considerably harsher manner, and, given the state of the war-ravaged country and Churchill's own age and weariness, Wilson's treatment rings a bit truer to me.) Happily, in an afterword, Johnson is generous enough to recommend more in-depth treatments of Churchill and his times. If CHURCHILL encourages the reader to forge ahead to these other works, then it will have done its job.



4. I liked this breezy essay by Paul Johnson on just how great Churchill really was, but was left wondering what exactly was the point of the exercise?
   
   Johnson's praise for all things Churchill is so lavish I'm not certain "worshipful" really captures it. Johnson speaks of his own childhood remembrances of Churchill's speeches and deeds, and at times the book indeed feels like an intellectual fan letter, steeped in nostalgia and memories of youth.
   
   I'm not taking anything away from as titanic and large a figure as Churchill -- he looms over the 20th century, deservedly so.
   
   But Johnson's short look adds little to the historical record and remains the kind of thing you would like best if you were both a Churchill and Johnson fan.



5. I am a Paul Johnsom fan and for me 3 stars is a disappointment. this book was brief but thrilling. I fear Johnson may have researched and written it in haste.

5 comments about There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.

1. The title somewhat confused me when the book initially came out in 2008. I failed to sense the impending worldwide crisis now threatening the economies of the Western World. It is now two years later---and Claire Berlinski has turned me into a total convert. Margaret Thatcher clearly understood the benefits of the free market. She realized that any compromise with members of the Labor Party or the squishy moderates within her own party hurts the British citizenry. The woman was not for bending. Thatcher committed herself to achieving her goals regardless of the costs. She would push aside and irritate in countless other ways anyone who got in her way. Thatcher was not known for always being gentle. Winston Churchill was a wartime prime minister. He never got to serve during peacetime. Thatcher is therefore the role model for today's challenges.
   
   The author interviewed individuals who were not hesitant in revealing Thatcher as a strong willed lady that may have even occasionally rubbed them the wrong way. France's Francois Mitterrand even described her as "Brigitte Bardot with Caligula's eyes." She was also born and raised in modest middle class surroundings---and the elites never forgave her. One is also readily reminded of the friction between the American Sarah Palin and her big government Republican detractors. Mrs. Thatcher worked closely together with President Ronald Reagan to defeat the Soviet Union. This same sort of focus and vision is currently needed to combat Islamic extremism. Claire Berlinski has successfully made her case. The title of the book says it all. Margaret Thatcher still matters and there is no alternative. Great Britain is experiencing an existential crisis that may destroy its democratic institutions. Can it find another Thatcher before it is too late?



2. Reading the book, I felt that Mrs. Thatcher had landed in my living room, handbag included. Reading about the Frost interview, her stand towards the unions, or her thumping of the famous bag, I started understanding the Iron Lady's thought process and the roots behind her (admittedly strong) convictions especially on fiscal policy. You may not like Mrs. Thatcher after reading this book, but you will certainly appreciate her leadership.



3. Superficial and disappointing. The best parts are when the author is actually quoting Thatcher. Overall the author seems to find herself more important than Thatcher. Vast amounts of the text consist of uninformative digressions about the author -- for example the time she (an American) spent at Balliol during the Thatcher years, and discussion about the process of researching and writing the book, including unnecessary details about the logistics of arranging to lunch with interviewees at various London clubs. Particularly weird and irritating is the author's penchant for including large chunks of verbatim transcipt of mealtime interviews, including placing food orders and other interactions with waitstaff. You can tell from the transcribed comments that her interview subjects were not very impressed by her. The author's longwinded attempts to answer the question in her title are glib and unconvincing.



4. Better biographies and writings on Thatcher and Thatcherism exist out there. Earl Reitan's book and Lady Thatcher's own writings are better than this condescending exercise in egotism by the author. The style is lazy, the editor must have been asleep at the keyboard when it came to the interviews in this book, and if I had to read one more time the author make reference to her time at Oxford (in the sense of 'see I'm smart, really.'), I'd send this book through the shredder. Margaret Thatcher matters because while socialism has its faith in man and history, Thatcher had hers in the power of the market. And with that faith, she transformed the United Kingdom. But how she put that faith into action is not given its due in this book. The more interesting question than the one the author concludes with is this: would Thatcher have bailed out The City in the current economic crisis? Would her absolute faith in the market been tested?



5. A very interesting book about Margret Thatcher. Certainly not a scholary biography but has some interesting ancedotes about her. If the book has a fault she could have edited her interviews a little more. Is it really necessary to know what they had for lunch when she interviewed her sources? But the book is easy to read and has a bit of depth to it.
   
   This book remimds me of When Character Was King the story of Ronald Reagan by Peggy Noonan. It is along the same vein but the Reagan bio is surperior.

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

1. 
   William Manchester died before finishing his massive three-volume biography of Winston Churchill, having completed Visions of Glory - Churchill's childhood, military career, and early politics - and Alone, covering the period of relative political inactivity from 1932 to the start of World War II.
   
   This is a biography which covers both Winston's personal life and political career.
   
   The first volume of the set is gripping, Manchester having a subject of almost unparalleled interest, a bright but very difficult child who finally finds his place as a soldier and uses his family connections - his father being a descendent of the Duke of Marlborough - to gain assignments in zones of danger from fighting on the frontiers of Afghanistan to fighting the Boers in South Africa. His adventures in faraway realms of the Empire are absolutely absorbing, sort of Boy's Own stuff for adults. Churchill was almost fearless and often extremely lucky. He also later served as a brave officer on the front in the Great War.
   
   Manchester's style is clear and direct, but there are times he enters into subject areas I prefer he hadn't, as speculations on Winston's sexuality or rather lack of it, but Manchester had a remarkable memory and did extensive research so that all kinds of interesting little facts are scattered through the text. He also follows the custom of periodically giving little vignettes of the kind of events which were happening at the time.
   
   Churchill's childhood was not one anyone would envy, despite the wealth and privilege and great connections with history. His father, who died fairly early, was one of the most promising men in Parliament, having been marked out as a future Prime Minister. However, he simply did not like Winston, and theirs was a cold and often unpleasant relationship. His mother was a handsome East Coast American from a well-off family, a woman who was regularly unfaithful to her husband and reportedly even slept with the future king. She simply had no time or even interest in Winston, although there was some change when Winston's father died.
   
   Winston had a temperament as a boy reminding me of several historical figures who simply could not get on well in school and yet were immensely successful later, Einstein coming first to mind. Winston's brilliance was evident to teachers but his application was slim to non-existent.
   
   I do think Manchester goes out of his way at times trying to justify some of Winston's schemes such as the disastrous Dardanelles campaign in World War I, an event over which others have roundly condemned Churchill. He is clearly in his subject's corner, something I generally prefer to hostile biographers, but still it is worth pointing out that he is at times a bit excessive in this.
   
   The second volume is less interesting, and there are two reasons for this. First, it is simply a much less engaging chapter in Winston's life, but, second, I think Manchester plays too strongly on the word "appeasement," even offering up a definition early on. The word and its variants, such as "appeasers," are repeated over and over in the text, communicating to me the chilling tone of Right-wing American language.
   
   After all, Americans barely were scratched in World War I while Europe experienced what was to that time the greatest, most pointless carnage in history. Efforts to stop a repeat of that vast horror only twenty years later remain to me not contemptible. In general, too, it was less the appeasers that eased Hitler's path than it was a French government, in possession of the strongest army in Europe by far during the early thirties, which was unstable and uncertain and failed in the simplest, almost bloodless acts such as opposing the re-occupation of the Rhineland.
   
   The second volume does have some nice tableaux of Winston, from his painting, which became a major hobby, to his trudging around the estate in overalls building brick walls for his gardens.
   
   Churchill was extraordinary, and this biography captures a good deal of the flavour or tone of the man. It is recommended for students of history, leadership, world affairs, politics, psychology, and those who love a good biography.
   
   Apparently, Manchester, before he died, selected a writer, Paul Reid, to finish the third volume. The last I read it was due in 2011.



2. I am 2/3rds through the book and am enjoying thoroughly. I like long biographical works, so I would be partial to this. Manchester writes elegantly and with style, and provides tons of details about the life and times. He did a good job with the background prior to Winston's birth, explaining well what he was born into.
   
   He also depicts Churchill fairly, he was clearly a remarkable character in the 20th century, but he does not put him on a pedestal. The flaws in his character are not hidden.
   
   I am having a lot of fun with this, and look forward to the 2nd book.



3. Arrived very fast and in great condition. This seller was top notch in my estimation. Of course, the book itself is superbly written by William Manchester, a master biographer chronicling a most intriging personality. A great add to the library of any 19th/20th century geo-politico history affectionado.



4. I required a factual biography. I understood that Mr Manchester had done invaluable research and conducted many, many interviews with different persons involved during the life of Mr Churchill. I also had heard that his background descriptions of the social, economic, and political times were impeccable. The Author has used many anecdotes, as well as extracts from reliable memoirs to flesh out the Biography. These two Books are the icing on the cake of the Life of Winston Churchill up to his Premership, my only regret is that Mr Mancheser was unable to complete his proposed trilogy. They carry no hidden agenda and Mr Churchill is shown 'warts and all'. The two books have given me and my family complete satisfaction, and should be an established part of a Reference Library or a Curriculum of any University, or Institution of Higher Learning that studies Winston Churchill and his times.



5. This two-volume biography of Churchill is amazing. The 1600-odd pages went by in a flash. The writing is gripping, the material compelling, and the presentation balanced. Manchester clearly admires Churchill and lauds his genius, but also recognizes his character flaws and occasional errors. He doesn't shy away from judging the poor decisions of men like Baldwin and Chamberlain who sent Britain into WWII unprepared and with an appalling record of deliberate appeasement of Hitler despite mounting evidence of his evil doings, but he also shows the historical, political, and economic context that informed their actions. I am crushed to know that the third volume will never be written.
   
   I suggest that you also read Barbara Tuchman's Pulitzer-Prize-winning _The Guns of August_, which describes the lead-up to and first phase of WWI. The Churchill bio focused on the British side of things, where Tuchman's account was more continental in its emphasis. I'm glad that I read the Churchill bio after the Tuchman, because I understood more about how the Britons' actions were perceived abroad and what was happening on the French and Belgian side.

5 comments about My Early Life: 1874-1904.

1. This is a fascinating account of Churchill's life up to about 1904, written around 1930. Even if you are not interested in Churchill (hard for me to imaging if you are reading this review) just the perspective into the late Victorian era is worth the price of admission. It was a totally different world.



2. If you want to know about Winston Churchill's early life and just how well he was able to write well then look no further. The prose is rich, his vocabulary is extensive and the phrasing is pure Churchill. This is a great introduction into his life and writing ability and many sayings and phrases Churchill is known for are given in this volume. Few, if any, are willing to risk potential embarrassment by stating as one of their life's accomplishments any book that they have read. However, if one is able to add having read this book among those achievements then at least that part of their life will not have been wasted.



3. I got this for my grandfather for Christmas. He was POW during WWII, and was wanting to read about Churchill's POW experiences. A big hit!! My grandfather couldn't put the book down.



4. His writing is great; his stories are told in a refreshing, whimsical tone; and one gets the sense that he loves his life. Even though I was very familiar with the event of his life before reading this, I found it thoroughly engaging and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in this extraordinary man.



5. This 372 page long book would be good, but no more, if it wasn't for the first 40-or-so pages, which are a gem. The book covers the first 30 years of Churchill's life and the first forty pages cover his childhood. Although Churchill had a miserable childhood - his father was distant, his mother more interested in lovers than in her son, and he was bullied at boarding school - Churchill narrates his story with unsurpassed wit and without any hard feelings for the ones that failed him. Some passages, like the description of how he was grappling with the beast called maths, are just hilarious. The first forty pages alone make this book a must read. In the rest of the book, the most interesting part is the story of Churchill's capture by the Boers and escape. You don't need to be interested in Churchill, the statesman, to like this book. Here he is at his most human and disarming.

5 comments about Churchill: A Life.

1. This compelling and comprehensive volume by the greatest living historian of the 20th century, is the definitive biography of Winston Churchill.
   The book particularly stresses what a great humanitarian and opponent of all forms of tyranny, that Churchill was.
   As a young Member of Parliament , Churchill voiced his anger at the massacre by the British expeditionary invasion force into Tibet of 600 unarmed Tibetan peasants by Colonel Younghusband : "Are there any people in the world so mean spirited not to resist under the circumstances which these poor Tibetans have been subjected. It has been their land for centuries and though they are only Asiatic liberty and home mean something to them".
   
   He also denounced what he termed 'the disgusting butchery of the Natives' when a Zulu rebellion in Natal was brutally crushed by the British authorities in 1806, and the violent treatment of Chinese labourers in South Africa at the time.
   He was an opponent of Socialism but, unlike Margaret Thatcher, did realize that there were times when government intervention to uplift the poorest sections of British society was necessary. He wanted a strong Britain but also wanted a social policy that would benefit the mass of the people and reduce the extremes of poverty and deprivation.
   After World War II, Churchill stressed the constructive aspect and aims of Conservatism, and at his daughter Sarah's suggestion elaborated on the coalition governments Four Year Plan for social insurance, industrial industries insurance and a National Health Service. He announced that the conservatives would provide free milk for the 'very poor' and the under fives. Contrast this to Margaret Thatcher's cruel decision to abolish free milk for school-children aged seven to eleven, when she was Education Secretary int the early 1970s.
   Under Thatcher no doubt Churchill would have been referred to as a "Wet"!
   Churchill took a strong stand against the two great totalitarian evils of the 20th Century, Communism and Nazism. In 1919 when the Bolsheviks were committing massive atrocities across Russia and the Ukraine,Churchill said that he had no doubt that "of all the tyrannies in history the Bolshevik tyranny is the worst the most destructive and the most degrading".
   The atrocities committed under Lenin and Trotsky were "incomparably more hideous, on a larger scale, and more numerous than any for which the Kaiser is responsible".
   This was true.
   not until the Nazi Holocaust did the world see anything comparable, and Churchill was clear that although Communism and Nazism were regarded as being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, their spirit and nature were identical.
   As a testament to Churchill's great humanitarianism, he was always a staunch Zionist from the Balfour Declaration of 1917, knowing the justice of the cause of the long suffering and much persecuted Jewish people to a homeland of their own in the country where they originated.
   He resolutely opposed the Attlee/Bevin government's ruthless policies against Jews in the Palestine Mandate and their cruel treatment of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust wishing to enter the Holy Land. And he urged Britain to recognize the newly re-established State of Israel in 1949.
   
   In May, 1940, Churchill who had held almost every office of state, became Prime Minister at the age of Sixty Five. For the next five years, through a period of unparalleled disasters to achievement of final victory he rose to every occasion with unfaltering courage and matchless oratory. Thanks to the radio he was bale to speak directly to the people. and he gave Britain leadership such as she had never perhaps had in all her history.
   As the war drew to an end he realized more clearly than Roosevelt , the nature of Stalin's interest in the countries of Eastern Europe, and it could be said he did what he could to contain Communist aggression.
   
   This is the best biography of Churchill out there and highly recommended for those who want to gain a very real understanding of Churchill's careers and what he stood for.
   Above all Churchill loved his country and served it all his life.



2. 
   Churchill was an extraordinary man and his contribution to the world, highly significant. He is a study in persistence and determination. His political presence was felt prior to World War I, although his genius was not utilized. He was beaten down time and again, but bounced back. His service as a soldier in WWI provided him with insights he used to enhance the fighting capability of the soldier, as with the development of the tank. His views were always centered on the big picture and how events would affect Europe in general.
   After the war, Churchill became concerned about the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. The military build-up in Germany was not matched in England much to Churchill's dismay. He pressed for improvements in military readiness without the power for implementation. His concern for the welfare of the workingman was also high on his priority list and he was instrumental in introducing needed social reforms. As events developed, his predictions proved true. He was the most capable person to take charge in a time of crisis and won the support of the British people. As Prime Minister, his fight was not just for England, but also for the protection of Europe against the Nazi regime that threatened to engulf the region. He refused to give up in the face of adversity. As other countries were surrendering, he stayed the course. He inspired hope where there was despair and worked tirelessly in coordinating the war effort. He traveled numerous times to Washington to meet with President Roosevelt and to Russia to meet with Stalin. Russia was needed if Germany were to be beaten, however he soon realized that Stalin could not be trusted. Churchill then worked to prevent all of Eastern Europe from being assimilated into the Russian sphere of influence and control. Even at the age of 70, he continued to work. He was prepared to die for his country and for the people of Europe to save them from tyranny.
   The book, "Churchill, a Life" is filled with details about strategies, events and tragedies that occurred in the course of his life. Churchill was a proponent of learning from history, however history was often repeated when good advice was ignored.
   I highly recommend this book. It is more than 1000 pages in length and well worth the read.



3. This is a wonderful and detailed book. It gives a clear sense of WSC personality and tenacity. The one thing it probably lacks is a look at WSC personal life, but it goes deep into his public and political life. It is a wonderful an long read in order to determine WSC's impact on modern history.



4. Where does one begin to review a book which so marvelously relates such a momentous life? We are allowed 1,000 words in a review, so I can do 11 words for each year of Churchill's life or 1 word for every page in the book. I might as well give it a try.
   
   I find the breadth of Churchill's life to be mind boggling. The grandson of a Duke, he was raised at the family's Blenheim Palace. His father was a prominent Conservative politician whose political career hit its pinnacle when, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he got into a squabble over the budget. Winston had the benefit of not being limited by a college education. He was a graduate of Sandhurst, which provided a military education but not a college degree. After graduation he served as a reporter covering the Cuban Insurrection, with the Army in India, where he fought tribesmen, and in Sudan, where he participated in a cavalry charge. Covering the South African War as a journalist, he was captured and this highly valued prisoner and made a daring and much publicized escape. After this he successfully ran for parliament, beginning his career as a Conservative. Four years later, in a break over Free Trade, he switched to the Liberal Party, where he served as a prominent minister. During this time his advocacy of the disastrous Dardenelles campaign forces him to leave the Cabinet and serve as an officer on the Western Front, before returning to other cabinet posts.
   
   In 1922 he was defeated for reelection, but was reelected in 1924, this time as a Conservative. As he put it, "Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain amount of ingenuity to re-rat." Partly because of his prior changes of party, he remained distrusted by the Conservatives, which kept him largely out of influence, although respect for him did gradually build, only to be dashed due to his support of his friend, King Edward VIII, in the abdication crisis. It was Churchill who was with Edward when he announced his abdication to the people. Although often viewed as a boorish advocate of rearmament, the demands of war summoned Churchill back to the admiralty, where he had served during World War I. In 1940, over the opposition of his King and his party, he was summoned to form a government at the insistence of his Labour opponents. During the War he held up the morale of the British people, while coaxing the reluctant New World to step "forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old." During the war he prepared for the post war conflict with the Soviet Union, which, like the 1930s German threat, he foresaw. After the war he was voted out, but did return to head a second government, during which he fought a failing body and the diminishing confidence of his party.
   
   In addition to all this, Churchill was a prolific author, penning biographies of the First Duke of Marlboro and his father, his memoirs of the River War, World War I, World War II and the "History of the English Speaking Peoples." This statesman won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.
   
   I think that many of us have the impression of Churchill as a right wing reactionary, but he held some very progressive positions, such as votes for women, universal health care and a strong social safety net. An admirer of the New Deal, he was more liberal than many would imagine him to be today.
   
   So, I have convinced you that Churchill led an unimaginable, although eccentric, life, but what about the book you ask? The book is a match for the life! It is very readable. Although over 1,000 pages, it I one that you will not want to quit. Author Martin Gilbert has the knack of making you believe that you are reading a thorough biography, without ever becoming bogged down in details. Some books leave you with the feeling that subjects have been treated superficially and that you do not really understand them, but never here. For anyone wanting to acquire an understanding of the magnificent life of Winston Churchill, this book is the place to start.



5. From 1962 until now Martin Gilbert is officially the biographer of Winston S. Churchill.
   His narrative is complete from Victoria England into his forays of World War I onto the offices he held in the 1920's, which included living at 11 Downing Street, when he held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
   Martin Gilbert goes into detail of Winston's wilderness years and explains the reasons of his inability to gain high office. His take of Winston during the fight for survival and his dealings with FDR are insightful.
   Gilbert's take on the life and times of a very active and dynamic person as Winston Churchill shows no bias. Gilbert shows Churchill's entire work as a politician, orator, journalist, writer and historian not to mention artist and bricklayer.
   Of all the biographies of Winston Churchill I must take as gospel that Martin Gilbert has covered most aspects dealing with this great behemoth of the 20th Century. I rate this work at 5 Stars. I, however do confess that the 2 books written by William Manchester were far more interesting and entertaining. The intellectual professional historian will disagree. But I am but a common man! Gilbert's work was a good read.

5 comments about The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill.

1. One of the biggest shocks of my life came around 1979, when I finally got my little Apple II and dot-matrix printer to screech out a portrait of Winston Churchill. I took it to work, and showed it to a girl working next door: "Isn't this neat?" I asked. "Who is that?" replied she.
   
   So I guess Winston Churchill was already Ancient History by 1980. :-(
   
   Get this book, and read it! You can read it slowly, in snippets. I learned a lot from it. I had always known that Churchill had some very famous barbed remarks for "Lady Astor." Here, I learned that "Lady Astor" was one of those highly-unpleasant females of the "rich" species, born in Virginia, who somehow managed to get elected to the British House of Commons, and join a faction which supported Hitler and the Nazis!
   
   That puts a little more zing into Churchill's reply to Lady Astor's lovely remark: "If I were married to you, Winston, I'd put poison in your tea."
   
   Churchill's instant reply, "If I were married to you, Nancy, I'd drink it."



2. James C. Humes has put together a delightful potpourri of quotations and anecdotes of what I consider the man of the 20th Century.
   Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born to aristocracy from a British upper class father and a wealthy American mother in Victorian England. Mr. Churchill lived a full and productive life in service to not only his native country of England but also to the entire world.
   In fact, the world is a much better place because of the life of Winston Churchill. His skills were many to include that of an author, historian, journalist, painter as well as an accomplished speaker and above all a Statesman. His life although grand in every way was far from perfect. Mr. Churchill was known also for his stubbornness and his complete lack of humility. As stated in this book, it is a good thing that he was compared to Hitler and not Mahatma Gandhi.
   Within this small volume are the most famous of the Churchill quotes and anecdotes. One can take it to any occasion and open a page and discuss the frankness and wit of this famous man.
   Quite literally you will get to know Winston Churchill from A to Z in this book. And though it has been 44 years since he has left us his wit and wisdom is still very much relevant today. Don't let this one go by! Five Stars, no problem!!



3. Have if you're like me and have a lot of friends that don't read (but love Blue Collar Comedy Tour...) then you can start using quotes right out of this book and they will think you just came down from the mountain of knowledge and wisdom. Hey you can even use this for those fun quotes at the bottom of your email! Look how global you can become, yes you!
   
   Great book, very well organized and really a lot of fun to read. Winston Churchill was truly a clever man and would be on my top 10 list of Dudes I would like to have a Newcastle with.
   
   Robb Boyd from Cisco's TechWiseTV is number one on the beer list...



4. A delightful book. I thought the author a little too sycophantic for my taste (I am an Australian after all) but the contents are very entertaining. You can dip into it at any place and read for two minutes or two hours and have a good chuckle.



5. The book is entertaining. It's the kind of book you don't just read through, but pick it up read a few sections at a time.

5 comments about The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill (The Wicked Wit of series).

1. This copy will be used as a gift; our family refuses to give up our own copy. It is a very appealing, approachable avenue into one of the greatest men of the twentieth century. Churchill's own words "sell" the book, but his words are organized in various appropriate categories that make perusal easy. One is tempted to pick up the book at varying times to re-read and re-enjoy Churchill's astute observations. Our own copy is well thumbed and loved.



2. Lovely cover as noted by another reviewer, but I concur, that's about it. I've read all the Churchill witticism books on the market and this was by far the weakest. Rather than just simple wicked wit, the book is laden with British Colloquialisms and history that will be utterly lost on the American reader. There is also a smattering of (oddly) untranslated French quotations which require a trip to the internet in order to understand. There are a couple of laugh out loud anecdotes but overall, too many short historical stories which provide (too much) background, are rather bland and cause Churchill's wit to be nearly lost in the process. An OK book but nothing more. If you're a Churchill completist, buy it for the few stories that aren't in the other wit and wisdom books. Otherwise, save your money.



3. I keep this little gem in my car. If I'm ever stuck waiting for someone, I take it out and get a few chuckles. His genious reminds me of Benjamin Franklin.



4. Sir Winston. One of the great heros of our country. This book should be read by all school children, why are they reading shakespear when we have the ultimate hero.
   A master of politics and war. Sir Winston will always be my hero. This book will give you a super account of the mans life.



5. a good cover and that is about it . many misquotesand non attributed quotes . mistakes too.

5 comments about The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940.

1. When William Manchester began his biographical project of Winston Churchill he had planned on three volumes covering his birth to 1932, 1932-1940, and World War II and beyond. This is his second volume, which cover the "wilderness years" when Churchill was out of power in England, and was virtually a lone voice in warning of the gathering threat from Hitler and Germany. While Churchill remained in Parliament during this time he was shunned from joining any government. Even if he was invited to participate, it is unclear if Churchill would want to join with a British leadership intent on "appeasing" Hitler.
   
   (As a side note, Manchester does a good job of giving context to what has become a loaded term, and describing the motivations for peace at all costs that drove Neville Chamberlain to pursue the policy of appeasement.)
   
   Eventually the threat became too great for even the most obstinate appeaser to ignore, and, following the invasion of Poland and then Scandinavia, Churchill was invited to participate in a coalition government. When the invasion of France and the Low Countries happened Chamberlain's government fell and the King of England invited Winston to form a wartime government.
   
   The great tragedy in this story is that the reader knows what is coming and as the desire to read Manchester's history grows, we now know that Manchester would become too ill to complete his trilogy. He died in 2004, but not before willing his research on a third volume to a younger historian.
   
   That said, this book is well worth the time to read. It gives voluminous detail on what was happening within the British government in the 1930s while Hitler's power grew. I highly recommend this book.



2. Okay, maybe that's an unfair title. But seriously, an eight year period, almost the entirety of which he was out of power and depressed, might not sound like a thrilling read, especially as fat a book as it is.
   
   But Manchester, who surely has not written the most scholarly biography, does have a way with words and full perspective of the man and the period, having lived through it himself (though if I am not mistaken, Manchester is American which really only adds to the richness of his viewpoint of Churchill, in my opinion, though it can also be fairly said that Americans often admire the man overmuch). I read this book with the thrilled joy of a child, up late reading an adventure story under the blanket with a flashlight. Because Manchester brings his subject absolutely alive as a sympathetic human being and not a two-dimensional demi-god the way he and FDR can so often be portrayed by their admirers.
   
   And this is a very interesting period. The Indian independence movement had begun (not an event that covered Churchill in glory, surely). Hitler took power in 1933 and began Germany's march to war, which Churchill observed from his "wilderness" of bricklaying and landscape painting, and, as Cassandra, warned the world of what Germany was up to. This is the period of Neville Chamberlain and Munich. It is also a time of great personal difficulty for Churchill, as he struggled with his 'black dog' of depression.
   
   Manchester makes it all fascinating. If you're at all like me you'll keep saying to yourself "just one more page, or chapter" as the night gets later and later.
   
   I read this in hardcover, when it was first published, a good long time ago. It became apparent very quickly that Manchester was not going to be able to finish volume 3, which we all looked forward to so much. He wrote the excellent 'World Lit Only By Fire' not long after this, but in the preface to that book he admitted he didn't even intend to write a book then. He was old and not well. And when he died (long after announcing he wouldn't write the final volume) it was crushing...not just because I admired him personally and would miss him, but also because this biography would be left unfinished. From time to time I have read that his assistant is finishing it. I hope that works out...but it has been a good long time now, and I have my doubts. I'll live though, because I got to read the first two volumes...and that will surely be enough for me.



3. Years before Manchester wrote the first two of his planned three volume biography of Churchill, I spent an afternoon wandering around his country home, Chartwell, located in the lush Sussex coutryside. It was a revelation to me that his study contained only a tall library desk at which he did his writing standing up. The too-tall brick wall was in pristine shape and perfectly built without one brick out of place.
   
   The small house in back where Winson planned to live after his retirement had been turned into an art studio. The studio remained exactly as he left it, including the glass of brandy next to his easel. That part of the studio was blocked off by floor to ceiling glass panels so that no item could be disturbed. In a small ante room away from the usual tourist route I discovered a framed yellowing wartime memo addressed to "All those persons who write letters for my signature. Henceforth, do not close my letters using the word 'sincerely'. I shall, in each instance, determine whether I am sincere or not". It was signed "WSC". The wording is paraphrased because I didn't write down the exact words. However, my language is close and it's probably still there for inquiring minds to discover.
   
   Churchill was such a complex man I doubt that anyone, including Manchester, could unravel him. Missing are any details of his relationship with his children, particularly Winston, Jr., and we are left guessing about his intimate relationships with women, including his wife. And he apparently had few, if any, close male friends. Manchester did not favor us with the usual biographical intimate factoids. Nothing I found could explain Churchill's apparent liking of war and other tragedies such as a major fire at a friend's ancient country home.
   
   Manchester did not fully explain why Winston was relegated into the wilderness during his "alone" years. The reason was not solely due to his anti-pacifist views. He made the mistake of very publicly supporting Edward VIII and his proposed marriage to Wallis Simpson. Baldwin and the Royal Family knew something that Winston didn't. Edward was a Nazi sympathizer and pacifist who, particularly following his abdication, traded British state secrets in return for Hitler's promise to restore him as king and Wallis his queen once he conquered Britain. It appears from recent documentation from Nazi files that Edward told Hitler that if he bombed London his brother would abdicate. Interested persons can log onto Youtube, search for "The Traitor King" and watch the documentary for themselves.
   
   I along with everyone else am looking forward to volume three. It will be fascinating. However, based solely on the first two volumes, I concluded that I would prefer not to be in his presence. He was a loose canon, particularly when drunk, and not a particularly kind man.



4. A frightening story with a redoubtable yet all too human hero who prevails. There are even evil and bumbling villains along the way during this shameful period. The Last Lion should be required reading for politicans and world history students. William Manchester does a masterful, well researched [and entertaining] job of describing the inspirational leader of the Free World.



5. There are two volumn of "The Last Lion" and both are them are an excellent history of not only one of Great Britain's finest statesman of the 20th century, but one of the World greatest statesman, historian, and many have said "the man of the 20th Century" And after reading these two volumns one might have to agreee with the historians.
   Congtributed by Hurdrey Angus Jordan