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I found it just as easy to read this biography as I do to read an essay by George Orwell because it is written with striking clarity and in a straightforward manner. I am not suggesting for one moment that it is not scholarly but that it is thoroughly palatable and enjoyable to read. The book also reaches deep into your emotions in unexpected ways. Churchill had a puckish sense of humour and so has Andrew Roberts. Such a figure of Falstaffian early Elizabethan Regency Victorian and Edwardian proportions fully warrants over one thousand biographies but this latest one is streets ahead of the others because the author has a palpable feel for his subject. It is no hagiography however, and Professor Roberts deals at length with the many mistakes Churchill inevitably made in his long political career. When making judgments on Churchill I feel that the author takes me into his confidence and appeals to my sense of justice truth and fair play. There is much new material that simply does not appear in the biographies by Roy Jenkins and Boris Johnson because Professor Roberts has accessed recently released archival material such as the Ivan Maisky and Mary Soames diaries plus those of King George V1 cabinet minutes and civil servant's memoranda. He also quotes extensively from Hansard. This is not thematic history but good old fashioned linear history ie a story with a beginning middle and end which is what most readers want. The joy of this publication is that it should appeal to the teacher and student the political pundit and to what quaintly used to be called in Churchillian language the Man on the Clapham Omnibus. It has worldwide interest and it is no coincidence that the first thirty three purchasers of the biography were from Iceland who jetted over from Keflavik especially to receive their signed copies. I found much in the book which deals with the purpose of life and the extent to which we are not fully in control of events. The idea of destiny can of course be a delusion and and illusion as it was when Hitler escaped virtually unscathed from the 1944 Bomb Plot only to carry on making egregious mistakes that eventually led to allied victory. It calls to mind what Lord Hailsham said on Desert Island Discs that the only occasion in history that he could discern the finger of God in action was when Churchill took over the premiership on 10 May 1940. The book being over one thousand pages long deals with all the controversies in his career that you would expect. There are many occasions when Professor Roberts says that Churchill's conduct is not his finest hour. However nothing can detract from the ultimate conclusion that Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a very great man without whom humane civilisation would not have been saved during those stern days of the Second World War.Read full review
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What a great and comprehensive book. Would recommend for anyone interested in an in-depth understanding of Churchill and his time.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great book. To me it’s a wonderful read. If your into history you will be unable to put it down.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Amazing facts huge depth of history
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Excellent value, and a truly excellent edition buy it 👏.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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