5 comments about Churchill.

1. THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO AMAZON IS TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT WHEN YOU GET YOUR BULK SHIPMENTS OF DVD'S, THAT THEY ARE NOT DEFECTIVE.
   OTHER THAN THAT YOU ARE TERRIFIC.



2. Just excellent! Paul Johnson does a masterful job of illuminting the man who saved western civilization.



3. This is one of the very best biographies I have ever read. It's got just the right amount of detail, moves briskly, and is incredibly well written. The author brings his personal knowledge of Churchill in with a light hand, and doesn't shy away from advocating why he believes Churchill saved Europe and possibly the world. I loved the Epilog, with the examination of why and how Churchill was such an effective person. Very uplifting and positive. A fitting tribute to the man.



4. Johnson gives someone unfamiliar with Churchill a wonderful description of the action packed and extraordinay life of possibly the greatest leader of all time, and certainly of World War 2. Churchill was also a prolific author who wrote perhaps the definitive books on both World Wars. Few know that he had more words published than Charles Dickens, and that his Nobel Prize was for Literature. In addition he was a talented painter and a visit to his beloved home "Chartwell" allows the visitor to view hundreds of his works.
   
   Johnson amazingly gives the reader a good view of Churchill the man, the leader, and the icon, all in only 166 pages. There is enough here to give even the most devoted and well read Churchillian new information. A terrific achievement.
   
   Highly recommended



5. We're pretty North American-centric here in the U.S. Watching the Winter Olympics reminds us that we Yanks are hardly the center of the universe. Plus, I've always felt a tad guilty that my reading list had never included anything on Winston Churchill. No more guilt.
   
   Paul Johnson's 166-page chronicle of Churchill's amazing life and leadership has received excellent reviews. The page count also works. The author's masterful scan of Churchill's 90 years (1874 to 1965) includes insightful detail, laugh-out-loud sidebars and absolutely relevant commentary on leadership and politics, war, success and failure (lots of failure).
   
   If you're under 40, don't skip this book--thinking it irrelevant to our Twitter times. Churchill was a member of Parliament for 55 years, 31 years as a government minister, and almost nine years as prime minister. He served in the trenches of (and reported from) 15 battles, was awarded 14 campaign medals, "had been a prominent figure in the First World War, and a dominant one in the Second."
   
   And get this: he published nearly 10 million words, including his 880-page book, The World Crisis: 1911-1918. His five-volume War Memoirs book deal in 1947 paid him $2.23 million ($50 million in today's dollars). And in his spare time, Churchill painted over 500 canvases. In 1953, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
   
   He overcame family challenges. His cousin noted, "Few fathers had done less for their sons. Few sons had done more for their fathers." Yet the author writes, "Among all the twentieth-century ruling elites, the Churchills must be judged to have had the most successful marriage."
   
   In the epilogue, the author includes five specific ways that leaders can learn from Churchill. Number 2: "There is no substitute for hard work." Yet, this giant of a world leader "also manifestly enjoyed his leisure activities," including his painting, which created a sanctuary-like retreat for his mind and body. He worked 16-hour days (often with full working mornings in bed--to conserve energy). "The balance he maintained between flat-out work and creative restorative leisure is worth study by anyone holding a top position."
   
   He knew the value of face time. He forced himself "to travel long distances, often in acute discomfort and danger, to meet the top statesmen face-to-face where his persuasive charm could work best."
   
   Speaking of charm, the writing enticed me page after page. Churchill's famed oratory: 111 words per minute, "with Gladstone's 100 as the standard." After touring Africa, he wrote My African Journey (completed on his honeymoon): "...full of schemes for industrializing Africa and harnessing the Nile." His politics: "Churchill was carried forward by intellectual conviction, but his reverence for tradition acted as a brake."
   
   He ribbed others, including the Labour Party leader, Clement Attlee. "Yes, he is a modest man, but then he has so much to be modest about." And this: "An empty taxi drew up outside the House of Commons, and Mr. Attlee got out."
   
   He popularized (if not invented) the terms "cold war" and "iron curtain." Dependent on U.S. help to win World War II, he became a student of FDR and wrote more than 1,000 letters to him. With pen and cigar (up to 12 a day) he was a brute force writing factory. He documented all verbal orders in writing, and his results-driven memos began with the famous headline, "Action This Day."
   
   "So did the endless series of brief, urgent queries: `Pray inform me on one half-sheet of paper, why...' Answers had to be given, fast." (This from Johnson's insightful list of 10 ways that Churchill saved Britain. Number 4: "a personal example of furious and productive activity.")
   
   All of this, and more, in just 166 action-packed pages. This is a fantastic book!

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

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. If I had to pick my favorite biography of all time, this would be it. It has of course as it's subject one of the most fasinating figures of all time. Although Winston is known primarally for his stand aganist Hitler, Manchester's book makes us realize that even if World War 2 had never occured he would still have expericenced one the most action filled and important lives of the twentith century. And Manchester has a real gift for making the past come alive. His masterful use of telling detals gives an almost tactial sense of what life must have been like in the Victorian and Edwarian ages. And there's another reason why the book is special. One of the themes is how often Churchill was mistunderstood and deried for his actions. He was widely blammed for the Gallilopi affare, for example, but the book makes clear that he had little to do with that misadventure. And there were many other episodes where he was villified and unfairly pillored. And I think that is someting we can all understand and identify with. Doesn't everyone at time feel thaat our actions,indeed our very selves are not understood by others? Winston suffered through this many times in his life, yet he remained true to him, his values, and his vision. Reading this book can give you courage.



5. The wonder of the Internet. I googled the New York Times Book Review of the Last Lion, Winston Spencer Churchill Visions of Glory written by William Manchester. What I read of this review dated May 25, 1983 rather stunned me. Ms. Michiko Kakutani wrote a very critical and to my way of thinking pedestrian review. I am currently a subscriber to this paper and read the New York Times Book Review faithfully every week. Good thing I was in Cleveland at this time and never read this review.
   I read this book back in 2003 with only a cursory knowledge of Winston Churchill. I learned many things which included a rather hard childhood in a privileged family of aristocracy. Randolph Churchill married Jenny Jerome of America in 1874. Winston Spencer Leonard Churchill was born on November 30, 1874. God help us all!
   William Manchester writes a splendid review of the life and times of Winston Churchill. His due diligence as to the historical narrative is indeed grand. The letters of Churchill to his parents when he matriculated at Harrow are priceless.
   Manchester describes all from Churchill's years at Sandhurst to his excursions to the U.S.A. and Canada. From his service in the Calvary in Africa, India and onto the Boer War, Winston was indeed there on the ground.
   His consistent promotion by his mother after his father's death is fully described. Also detailed is a life in upper class Victorian England. Ms. Kakutani thought that Manchester really had no concept of English life during this time frame. Oh really?!! Just what makes a 28 year old Japanese American journalist an expert on Victorian England? I found Manchester's descriptions and historical narrative of this time frame in Winston's life informative and entertaining. Martin Gilbert's narrative was informative and true but it lacked the style of Manchester's writing.
   Manchester covers Winston's entry into the House of Commons and the offices he held in high government before during and after World I. This book represents Winston's first 58 years of life. Manchester has written a classic. Unfortunately he will not complete the full life of Mr. Churchill. His second book will cover his Wilderness Years through to the start of the Second World War. He never could finish the third book. I find Manchester's biography more interesting and informative than Martin Gilbert's "Churchill a Life". So Ms. Michiko Kakutani what do you think about them apples?

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

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.



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



5. A good review and background of famous quotes of Churchill. It also showed him to be a good husband and sober man, despite the rumor otherwise.

5 comments about Churchill: A Life.

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.



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

1. What an incredible book, you can't see it here but it is very long, in other words it's a BIG book, so take that into account on whether or not to read it at home or on the go. It is definitely a sit-down-at-home book. It is very detailed, and I must admit I was going to give up on it, because at the beginning I thought (wrongly so I must admit) that it was just boring. But I said I was going to give it 100 pages after that if it didn't get interesting I would toss it. Well all that the author presents at the beginning I found later on to be very necessary to understand all that would come later on. The author really enthralls you with details that would later help you in understanding the man and his decisions in the future, be them wise or unwise. I find that it helped me understand his thinking and see where he was coming from as a man of that past century, I think that's very important. Sometimes you can read a biography and think how wrong and bigoted a person can be, but you are thinking of the way things are now, not with the mentality of a man of that particular time.
   So yes it's an incredible read if you give it a chance.



2. I have to say it's a great book. I had read THE GLORY AND THE DREAM, so I was already familiar with Manchester's narrative style. However, he has a few facts wrong regarding Ireland, paraphrases below of which can be checked in three books by the author Tim Pat Coogan, as well as other sources.
   
   [...]
   
   First of all, the map on page 735 clearly labels the six north-east counties of Ireland as Ulster. This is clearly wrong. A better nomenclature, and far more accurate, would be "Northern Ireland," or to those with an Irish Republican bias, "Carsonia." So-called British Ulster is merely composed of six of the nine counties of the traditional Irish province of Ulster.
   
   Second: At no time was the Irish Parliamentary Party ever considered more than "parlor" Nationalist. Yet the impression one gets from reading TLL v1 is that the Irish Party was arguably the only organized effort to reverse the Act of Union in the political sphere, therefore wholly "Nationalist."
   
   Third: Prof. Manchester's use of the term "Eire" to refer to the southern 26-county Irish Free State before its inception as such, is simply annoying to anyone who knows that the term appears first, in a political context, in article 1 of the Irish Constitution, commissioned by Eamon DeValera (whom Manchester ignorantly anoints, in or around 1933, "President" on page 735, when DeValera did not hold that office until some time after 1940) in 1936-7.
   
   Fourth: Said DeValera did not escape execution due to his birth in the states, as Manchester (and others before and since have) asserted. The fact is that the military officer in charge of Kilmainham Jail, under pressure from UK Prime Minister Arthur Balfour to 'put a better face on the whole business' of execution for public consumption, decided to stop shooting the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising after Joseph Connolly was shot.
   
   There are a few more minor points he misses, ignores, or insists by bold statement or insinuation to promulgate popular misconceptions on, but I believe that the "rule of four" in topic outlining is sufficient for this review and will end here.



3. The Last Lion; Winston Spencer Churchill - Visions of Glory 1874 to 1932 is a segment of the life of an active politician that encompasses the Raj, the First World War, and the interim between World Wars. Among the outstand parts of this well researched book are the role played by Churchill in the attempted management of India by Great Brittan, and in the tragedy at Gallipoli during the Turkish Campaign. The book gives insight to details of important historical events that influenced the course of British history - written in a manner that earns it five stars.



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



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

1. I have read this twice over a span of twenty years, and given multiple copies to friends, family and business acquaintances. I believe it is more relevant today than at any time since it was written. Many reviewers suggest that Churchill's brilliance was in seeing the Nazi build up when others missed the signs. This is a simplification of what happened that can cause the reader to miss the extraordinary parallels between the 1930s and today.
   
   First, the vast majority of the estimates (intelligence) which Churchill received came from within the English government, made available to him by his unique status as a former First Lord of the Admiralty and his unique family heritage. The key difference between Churchill and Baldwin and Chamberlain was not information, but the conclusions they reached. Manchester helps us to understand England's equivalent of the Vietnam Syndrome. Baldwin and Chamberlain, and much of the English public was still reeling from the "Lost Generation" of the Great War (WWI) and found it inconceivable that the Germans would want to fight another war. Manchester does a masterful job not only documenting the denial, but of leading us through the intellectual elites fascination with Hitler and Mussolini personally, and Fascism more generally. In the midst of the Great Depression, these men were leading two war torn second tier countries to prosperity. They were heroes, and Churchill was the war monger. Appeasement was a virtue and not the blemish it would become. A fascination shared by the intellectual elite in the US as well, Joe Kennedy and Lindberg offered as examples.
   
   Intruding on the placid "world as we would like it" view, comes Churchill. Challenging the Cassandra like view of both, Hitler and Fascism/ Nazism, he risks the delicate appeasement strategy, and Hitler sensing who his real adversary will be, exploits this. Manchester explains that despite his noble lineage, Churchill was not a wealthy man, and lived his life financially dependent on his writing; syndicated newspaper columns, books, lecture tours and radio addresses. We learn of the Government's decision to challenge Winston here, pressuring newspapers to drop his syndications and denying him access to the BBC.
   
   Manchester weaves this story together, letting us live through the extreme depression that Churchill fought all his life, the darkest days coming when his wife cruised around the world with another man, leaving him alone at home (he still had his staff and children) driving himself mercilessly to finish his history of Marlbourgh (John Churchill) and the English Speaking Peoples, books which paid the bills. We see a man who was driven more than anything else by a consuming desire, one might say obsession, to be Prime Minister, but who was completely unwilling, in fact unable to compromise principle to advance his own position.
   
   This is a splendid book, and with the possible exception of Churchill's own "The Gathering Storm", is the most riveting account of the lead causes of the European WWII I have read. My only caveat is the book does start slowly, spending a great bit of time on a day at Chartwell, and the Master's many idiosyncrasies, but persevere. It also builds on volume 1, Visions of Glory. I read them in reverse order and in retrospect that might be the best way to do it. Buy and copy and enjoy, the journey is fascinating!



2. The 8 years covered in this book were quite possibly the most dangerous years of the 20th Century. Had Churchill not existed England might well have followed the rest of Europe into Nazi domination. America would then have had to stand alone for freedom and democracy, something she had shown little appetite for until Pearl Harbor. Even then, Germany had to declare war on the States before America would react to Hitler.
   
   Manchester captures perfectly the times and the man himself. Every person interested in Churchill and how one strong leader can impact the world will enjoy this great account of him.



3. This volume, the second of three intended by author William Manchester, carries forward the standard of high scholarship and refined expression set forth in volume one. Churchill the man, during the years "Alone," was anything but solitary. By the time World War II started he knew as much "intelligence" as anyone in the UK and had finally ceased to be the lone voice urging military preparation against the growing Nazi menace in the face of ongoing Chamberlain concessions stupifying in both their obtuseness and import.
   
   One can only regret that Mr. Manchester did not survive to complete volume three.



4. William Manchester has written a classic description of the Wilderness Years of Winston Churchill.
   His foray into the abyss of English politics is described at length. Mr. Manchester described the practice of the English government of ignoring Mr. Churchill and his many diatribes in the House of Commons. In fact what was happening in Germany with the formation of the Nazi Party alarmed Winston. During this period of the Gathering Storm, Churchill indeed had intelligence contacts who reported to him of the real situation happening in Germany.
   As a back bencher,Winston continued to try to warn Baldwin and later Neville Chamberlain of the true Tectonic intentions. Some recent theories describe Churchill as an aggressive patrician seeking glory. Sorry folks, you are indeed wrong. What Winston stood for was the right of people to have peace. I realize that Churchill was a Victorian Warrior. His stance today would be too extreme and unacceptable in our current political scheme. But in 1940, Mr. Churchill represented the last hope of a Democratic presence in the World willing to face the Nazi menace.
   Manchester does this book well. He describes in detail how Churchill economically survives by writing. Winston utilizes an extensive staff to write his many articles and books during his Wilderness years. Manchester describes in detail how he does it. These journalistic efforts kept Winston one step ahead of his creditors. He continued to live the life of aristocracy even though he was really poor.
   His destiny awaits. Good for him! I rate it 5 Stars. Too bad Manchester dies before old Winston does!! Metaphorically that is. However I have heard the good news that the third book to complete this trilogy is in the works. Paul Reid has been chosen to complete this magnificent series. Hopefully publication will be in 2010. Mr. Reid, Manchester's loyal readers await!!



5. I just finished reading this book and its predecessor, and am griefstricken at the fact that Manchester died before completing the third volume. These books are amazing. As I read them I was reminded of a review concerning (I think) Tuchman's bio of Stillwell, which went something like: "This is more than a book, it is an education."
   
   The writing is insightful and balanced throughout, and replete with background information that puts it all in perspective. Manchester clearly admires Churchill greatly and lauds his genius, yet is not blind to his character flaws or occasional errors. He does not shy away from making judgments about the appalling lengths to which Baldwin and Chamberlain went to appease Hitler and prevent Britain from preparing for the upcoming war, but he also shows the cultural context and competing priorities that informed their actions. Both books are incredibly readable; I've been completely absorbed in them since reading the first page. I highly recommend them both.

5 comments about Memoirs of the Second World War (An Abridgement of the Six Volumes of the Second World War).

1. Excellent Abridgment of his six volume "The Second World War", but still over 1,000 pages. It gave me a new understanding of how all the individual events fit together from the highest levels in the USA and especially Britain.
   
   It must always be remembered that this is the War as Winston Churchill saw and fought it. Other views are also out there and should be read to gain a broad understanding of how other countries saw the war. This is not saying that Churchill was wrong - there are simply many opinions on the same subject because of the large numbers of people the War involved - each with a slightly different, or opposing, idea of what was the best path to take or even on what really happened in major battles.
   
   It is well worth the time it takes to read it. It is a valuable resource to those who want to understand Britain and her reasons for her actions. It also includes the contributions of the USA and the Soviet Union and gives personal insights into Roosevelt and Stalin.



2. Excellent and a highly recommend read for a student of WWII ... and for anyone interested in WWII history .... especially for those who do not have the time to read the full six volume series. Churchill is an excellent writer.



3. I haven't finished yet but since we all know how it ends, I don't think that will affect my review. This book is simply an extremely well-written account of the war by Churchill. It's obviously written from a British POV with more detailed insights into what was happening in the British government, but I was pleasantly surprised that he also researched foreign archives that became available after the war and has included them to create a well-rounded picture of the war. It's 1,000 pages but it's a page turner.



4. A down-to-earth, no-nonsense account of leading Britain and her Allies through the Second World War and pretty much saving the world. In this very well-written Memoirs, Churchill appears energetic, cheerful, likable and pugnacious but with no real strategic vision. I think this part nicely sums up Churchill's approach to politics: "It is not permitted to those charged with dealing with events in times of war or crisis to confine themselves purely to statements of broad general principles on which good people agree. They have to take definite decisions from day to day. They have to adopt postures which must be solidly maintained, otherwise how can any combination for action be maintained ?"
   
   I also found him surprisingly forgiving in his judgment of the protagonists - British pre-war political leaders excepted: for example of French Admiral Darlan he says "Let him rest in peace, and let us all be thankful we never had to face the trials that under which he broke" and of Admiral Kurita, Imperial Japanese Navy "Those who have endured a similar ordeal may judge him". Most interesting are his interaction with people in government or the military (the charm of dining with Soviet leaders), his choice of collaborators, his leadership style, his perception of the war, and in particular his constant conviction that he would win it eventually. Some scenes are excellent, such as the 1942 meeting in Moscow over Operation Torch when Stalin expresses a strong interest in the political consequences of the occupation of French North Africa. Military affairs are not too detailed, except as far as British units are concerned (notably the 4th Hussars Regiment). This abridged version gives a good overview of the war, even though some relatively major events such as the Canadian raid on Dieppe or Arctic convoys (the end of PQ-17) are omitted, while the events in Greece and Poland, for which the British had a strong interest, are discussed at great lengths. Gualdacanal is hardly mentioned, and only during the Battle of the Coral Sea.



5. This is an awesome book. Causes of WWII and many of our current conflicts are detailed!

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

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.