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4.55 AVERAGE
4.55 AVERAGE
No writer better captured Churchill's character than William Manchester, and no period of Churchill's life better showcases his character than his time "in The Wilderness," in the decade leading up to his assumption of the Prime Ministry. Churchill as the lone Jeremiah as Europe falls to Hitler makes for compelling reading.
The first volume in this series was much more fun. This volume was 8 years of day after day capitulation of the French and British to Hitler. I'm not sure if it was just the frustration of reading this that made it not as enjoyable as the first or if there is more I am unable to remember/express.
When I put this book on my Christmas list, I failed to realize that it was volume 2 of the 3 part series covering the entirety of Churchill’s life. This is the shortest of the 3 volumes, clocking in at just under 700 pages and focuses on 1932-1940, i.e., the run-up to WW II.
As I picked the book up to begin this journey, I knew it was going to be a tough read. That’s partly on me – I really enjoy reading about history but it can tend to be less than riveting and it’s easy to lose focus (and my only slower reading rate really bogs down!). And that was ultimately true. It took me over 3 weeks to get through this book but it in the end, I still feel like it was well worth the journey. As others have stated, the author didn’t exactly spin an amazing tale in this volume. But that’s in part because the years covered were mostly focused on the appeasers in Britian (Chamberlin, et al) and Churchill’s constant battle with them to rearm the country. As such, the book can feel a bit repetitive at times since that was the general theme over those 8 years. Combine that with large sections of the book which focus on the “surrounding” history about Brittain, Germany, etc. – and not so much Churchill – causes the book to drag. All of this “other” history no doubt paints the scene for Churchill’s story but sometimes I felt like I was reading a general history of the lead-up to WW II instead of a focused biography.
All in all, I did enjoy this book and I leaned a lot. I knew very little about Churchill and how Brittain and France seemingly failed to curtail the rise of Hitler in the ‘30’s through their appeasement of Germany. Churchill was seemingly one of the few that saw Hitler for who he was and ultimately, he was vindicated (unfortunately). It is with trepidation that I consider diving into Vol’s 1 and 3 (both over 1,000 pages I believe). But some day I think I’ll be draw to both books as I am quite interested to learn more about this fascinating character in history.
As I picked the book up to begin this journey, I knew it was going to be a tough read. That’s partly on me – I really enjoy reading about history but it can tend to be less than riveting and it’s easy to lose focus (and my only slower reading rate really bogs down!). And that was ultimately true. It took me over 3 weeks to get through this book but it in the end, I still feel like it was well worth the journey. As others have stated, the author didn’t exactly spin an amazing tale in this volume. But that’s in part because the years covered were mostly focused on the appeasers in Britian (Chamberlin, et al) and Churchill’s constant battle with them to rearm the country. As such, the book can feel a bit repetitive at times since that was the general theme over those 8 years. Combine that with large sections of the book which focus on the “surrounding” history about Brittain, Germany, etc. – and not so much Churchill – causes the book to drag. All of this “other” history no doubt paints the scene for Churchill’s story but sometimes I felt like I was reading a general history of the lead-up to WW II instead of a focused biography.
All in all, I did enjoy this book and I leaned a lot. I knew very little about Churchill and how Brittain and France seemingly failed to curtail the rise of Hitler in the ‘30’s through their appeasement of Germany. Churchill was seemingly one of the few that saw Hitler for who he was and ultimately, he was vindicated (unfortunately). It is with trepidation that I consider diving into Vol’s 1 and 3 (both over 1,000 pages I believe). But some day I think I’ll be draw to both books as I am quite interested to learn more about this fascinating character in history.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Exceptional book. I can't recommend it highly enough to those who have interest in WSC or WWII.
informative
slow-paced
This is not a traditional biography in that much of the book is about Churchill secondary to the historical events.
It gets increasingly frustrating listening to see everyone cozying up to Hitler and disavowing Churchill for refusing to give up on the idea of England's defense. He comes across as prescient and the people around him as absolutely deluded fools. This starts to grate - I think we could have gotten the point without having to go through every single time Winston Churchill was correct over the entire time period. As the war begins, because no one else is ever praised for anything or identified as achieving anything, Churchill comes across almost god-like - as the only competent person winning the war single-handedly.
I have no doubt that the historical details are accurate here, however, the way it's presented makes it seem like the author is advocating for Churchill rather than writing a fair and balanced accounting. The author seems positively chummy with his subject and sources.
This is one of those books that reads like homework rather than a novel.
It gets increasingly frustrating listening to see everyone cozying up to Hitler and disavowing Churchill for refusing to give up on the idea of England's defense. He comes across as prescient and the people around him as absolutely deluded fools. This starts to grate - I think we could have gotten the point without having to go through every single time Winston Churchill was correct over the entire time period. As the war begins, because no one else is ever praised for anything or identified as achieving anything, Churchill comes across almost god-like - as the only competent person winning the war single-handedly.
I have no doubt that the historical details are accurate here, however, the way it's presented makes it seem like the author is advocating for Churchill rather than writing a fair and balanced accounting. The author seems positively chummy with his subject and sources.
This is one of those books that reads like homework rather than a novel.
Comprehensive it is! This long saga of Churchill in "the wilderness"is not only his story but the history of this epoch and the life and times of highest caste England. These wealthy, racist, thoroughly prejudicial white men who felt themselves entirely entitled to control the world, and yet simply watched in awe as death, doom and destruction approached their doorstep, is one of the fascinating tragedies of modern times . In depth, beautifully written in parts and yet for me never reaches the level of Manchester's "American Caesar" . Still, an amazingly researched project. Solid 4 stars.
Quite good. This covers most of Churchill's period of political disgrace and his recovery as Britain headed into WW2. The major theme for this book is Churchill's steadfast insistence on the threat of Nazi Germany and his constant warnings and suggestions to the government that they need to be re-arming more quickly and to a greater degree, and to avoid the policies of appeasement and anti-aggression.
He was continually dismissed as being a warmonger, and while public opinion in the second half of the decade was beginning to swing around towards reluctantly getting involved in stopping Germany, the Tory-led government was sticking resolutely to policies of appeasement in order to keep Britain neutral. They were even entertaining the idea of an alliance with Germany as a road to avoiding conflict, as well as serving as a bulwark against Communism in the east.
The final chapters of the book cover the final shift of sentiment in the government away from appeasement and neutrality, the loss of confidence in Neville Chamberlain and an all-conservative government, and the resurgence of support for Winston Churchill, whose steadfast opposition to Nazi Germany was now aligned with public opinion and the opinion of a majority of Parliament.
He was continually dismissed as being a warmonger, and while public opinion in the second half of the decade was beginning to swing around towards reluctantly getting involved in stopping Germany, the Tory-led government was sticking resolutely to policies of appeasement in order to keep Britain neutral. They were even entertaining the idea of an alliance with Germany as a road to avoiding conflict, as well as serving as a bulwark against Communism in the east.
The final chapters of the book cover the final shift of sentiment in the government away from appeasement and neutrality, the loss of confidence in Neville Chamberlain and an all-conservative government, and the resurgence of support for Winston Churchill, whose steadfast opposition to Nazi Germany was now aligned with public opinion and the opinion of a majority of Parliament.
This second volume wasn't quite as entertaining as the first, no boarding school adventures or prison escapes. A very large portion of this book was Winston Churchill repeatedly telling everyone Voldemort was back, and the Ministry of Magic being in denial and smearing his good name. Which was very frustrating to read with hindsight, but at the same time it is easy to imagine that after the horrors of WWI, with 100's of thousands of dead, in muddy trenches where neither army gains a foot of territory for months and years, it would be incomprehensible that any world leader would want to instigate a repeat of that war, and maintaining peace would be so desirable. It was interesting to read, and think about the role of propaganda, Hitler with his, but also the need for pro-war propaganda by the allies to gain support to confront the threat of Hitler.
I listened to the Audible version of this book, and thought the narrator's Churchill impression wasn't as good as the narrator of the first volume, but about halfway through I got used to it
The ending was quite rousing and gave me goosebumps.
Another reviewer posted this article that I thought was interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/the-fan-who-finished-william-manchesters-churchill-biography.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I listened to the Audible version of this book, and thought the narrator's Churchill impression wasn't as good as the narrator of the first volume, but about halfway through I got used to it
The ending was quite rousing and gave me goosebumps.
Another reviewer posted this article that I thought was interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/the-fan-who-finished-william-manchesters-churchill-biography.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
In the wise words of David McCullough:
William Manchester gives us a revealing portrait of a world about to come to a boil and a man about to become a symbol of his time
William Manchester gives us a revealing portrait of a world about to come to a boil and a man about to become a symbol of his time