Ok so I am not done, but I need to talk about it all the same. Turns out that I knew very little about Winston Churchill. His mother was a beautiful American socialite who married the 3rd son of the Duke of Marlborough, a family whose finances are regularly propped up by american heiresses (how very Downton Abbey!). Churchill belongs to that category of those who triumph over childhoods miseries and failures. He was dumped in a boarding school at the age of 7 and rarely saw his parents. He was sickly, difficult and stupid. His education path was turned towards the army because his parents didn't think he was smart enough to be a lawyer!After 3 failed attempts he passes the entrance exam into officer's training for the calvary (he wasn't smart enough for the infantry... Who Knew?). His father dies from sphyllis and his last letter to his son berated him for his many failures.THEN... all of a sudden this quiet sullen boy turns into a super confident(arrogant) super hero! He fights in battles in India, and South Africa. He is regularly the hero of the battle and saves the day. He spurns death regularly. His exploits lead him to journalism and then memoirs. He is taken a prisoner of war and escapes by hiding in a mine shaft for 5 days and then jumping on to a train. By the age of 25 he is the most sought after lecturer in England (despite his lisp), he has written 5 books and has been voted into the House of Commons. His command of the english language is suddenly brilliant. (What is it about the loss of aristocracy and the crossing of a continent that has depleted our own english abilities. No offense but can an american ever out write the english?)This is my dilemmia which the biographer neatly passes over. What the heck happened to make the change in him? Possible solutions 1. His dad & governess die. 2. He gets a horse. 3. He was born for battle. Any better ideas? Well the first part of the biography is reassurance to every parent who ever wondered is their kid can make good.:)

This is single volume edit of a multi volume work. Given Churchill's long life, eccentricity, multiple talents, and breadth of experiences it is obvious that no single volume could possibly give anything but a sketchy over view and that is all this does. Unforgivably there is almost no attempt to reflect on his personality, private life before ( or after ) marriage, his sometimes capricious almost manic mood swings and little analysis of many of the more controversial episodes of his long life. This book is rather boring history as dull chronological recounting with almost no opinion or analysis. This is all bones and no meat. If you want a sketchy over view of Churchill's life this might suit you but if you want more than a two dimensional idea of the man forget it - or be better at reading between the lines than I am.

AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL HISTORY OF A TRUE PATRIOTI wanted to know Churchill's true life and this has provided it! There are many books about him but this tells the unvarnished complete story in a well researched narrative, it is a worthy read.

i like tge book. it is written in open and friendly manner. and it will ve convenient to read to any person who gas just started his way on Britain story or First World War.howevr i think that instead of citing letters to his wife it could be more usefull to cover his thoughts. for example, why Churchill thought that free market and open borders will help to improve life of working class in the Great Britain. Book just mention that he support free trade and has argues with other parties..in any case it is a good book abd you can freely recommend to any person with varies background knowledge.

I need to discover more about the term 'official biographer.' I assume full access to the subject's personal documents. Is the tacit tradeoff that content is limited to facts? This bio caused me to ponder official biographer-ology. If it hadn't been Winston as the subject, this style of writing would have been dare I say it? boring. Truly, it was anything but boring. Having just read Paul Johnson's abbreviated Churchill bio, replete with ripe commentary and articulated opinion, Gilbert's felt like a compendium of quotes and diary entries in chronological order. Extensive and entertaining, but clinical. After Manchester's The Last Lion, a crusty, seed-filled, full-flavored wheat bread, this was white bread. Not difficult to chew, nor undelicious, nor a slog to read. It just didn't score high on zest. Still, I gave it four stars. Well, 3.5 rounded up. Here's what I loved: At the top of each page was the year on the left hand side and, on the right, Æ T ##, from Latin aetatis, at the age of. This was immensely helpful. And Churchill's age is almost a character of the book. Each birthday is a tent peg for the narrative. It will be a while before I forget November 30. The multitude of maps and a full index were excellent. I used them both extensively while I read. One area where Martin Gilbert, a Jewish historian, revealed his worldview was in Churchill's friendship with the Jews. I was delighted to notice it. I learned that Churchill, a Zionist, suggested bringing Israel into the British Commonwealth. All those comments aside, Churchill is an astonishing character; his words and life are worth the time and effort to read. So many words could describe him: puckish, imp, cunning, complicated, emotional, self-absorbed, a big thinker, genius, personable, imaginative, forceful. I copied 41 pages of quotes (OCD much?) into my commonplace journal. His storied life is an epic of worldwide involvement. His wordsmithing is sustenance to my writer-soul.From here, I plan to read Churchill himself. The six volume WW2 memoirs are waiting; I'm eager to re-read History of the English-Speaking Peoples.