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Churchill
by
Roy Jenkins
In Churchill, Roy Jenkins provides a comprehensive portrait of Winston Churchill from his childhood to the critical World War II period and beyond in a single, definitive volume. Roy Jenkins combines unparalleled command of British political history and his own high level government experience in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its...more
Paperback, 1024 pages
Published
November 5th 2002
by Plume
(first published 2001)
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Churchill was without doubt the greatest Englishman of the 20th Century and the saviour of the western world, when Britain stood defiantly alone in 1940/41.
Roy Jenkins, a great statesman in his own right, wrote before his death a mega biography of this great man, without any nuances; Churchill was unpopular and considered crassly ambitious and arrogant in his political life from 1903 to 1939. Even then, he was considered a dangerous warmonger. In 1945, the voters luckily remembered who he was in...more
Roy Jenkins, a great statesman in his own right, wrote before his death a mega biography of this great man, without any nuances; Churchill was unpopular and considered crassly ambitious and arrogant in his political life from 1903 to 1939. Even then, he was considered a dangerous warmonger. In 1945, the voters luckily remembered who he was in...more
I've long been waiting for a proper authoritative biography of Winston Churchill. He was without doubt the best Prime Minister that Britain has ever had. If it wasn't for him, Britain would have been invaded by Nazi Germany and we would all now be wearing military uniforms and speaking German. Churchill was the man who rallied the British nation behind him and he was the first to stand up to Hitler's aggression.[return][return]Roy Jenkins has done a superb job of cataloguing Churchill's life. Th...more
A compelling biography of Churchill. As the author is also a long-standing member of the British Parliament the emphasis through-out is on Churchill’s political side. This is justified as Churchill’s primary life objective was to achieve political success and longevity. We follow him as he rises through the Conservative party, switched to the Liberals, and then with the demise of that party, returns back to the Conservatives.
Churchill was always a meteor. He was a welcome and vibrant addition t...more
Churchill was always a meteor. He was a welcome and vibrant addition t...more
Dec 31, 2009
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009-audio-books,
2009-nonfiction
early days in the military to his years as Prime Minister, his years as Secretary of War, his years as an author putting together a history of England in many volumes, and his years as an elder statesman predicting the problems of the cold war. The part about the 2nd world war was extremely interesting. Churchill believed himself to be the mediator and referee between Roosevelt and Stalin. On one hand, he felt Roosevelt was too trusting of Stalin, while Churchill had had more experience of him i...more
This is an epic book about an almost unbelieveable life, a classic case of fact being stranger than fiction - you couldn't make it up. His early life is the stuff of a boy's own adventure story, dashing across the british empire fighting natives, being captured by the Boer and escaping.
The politics could be rather dull and confusing to someone not really interested in the mire of modern politics, but Jenkins manages to make this somehow slightly noble! The parties and Churchill's floor crossing...more
The politics could be rather dull and confusing to someone not really interested in the mire of modern politics, but Jenkins manages to make this somehow slightly noble! The parties and Churchill's floor crossing...more
This is a superb biography of Churchill. It is one long volume, so it covers most aspects of his long interesting life, but is not as thorough as some of the specialized bios or the multiple volume bios such as by Gilbert or Manchester. Jenkins is a longtime parliamentary insider, so the focus of the volume is political. The author is well acquainted with and makes good use of rich documentary sources to great effect and without being too tedious. Churchill had an amazing life and was the early...more
I would assume that this LONG book is the definitive book of this unique and amazing individual. The details are amazing. As I began reading it, I wondered why the author addressed such minute occurrences in his early life. I later realized that they were harbingers of his success.
He seemed to have built his career on his ability to communicate – simply getting his point across. Further, I didn’t realize that he was such a prolific writer – newspaper war correspondence, books, essays and many, m...more
He seemed to have built his career on his ability to communicate – simply getting his point across. Further, I didn’t realize that he was such a prolific writer – newspaper war correspondence, books, essays and many, m...more
A very in-depth look into the life of Churchill. It focused a lot on his politics, maybe too much in fact, but that can be forgiven considering the author was a Member of Parliament for several decades. I learned a lot about Churchill, which was the point of reading this book, so the focus on politics didn’t bother me too much. It was amazing to read how authoritarian Churchill was during WWII; it almost seemed like that was the only way that Britain, and thus the Allies, was going to win the wa...more
Oct 13, 2012
Waterstones Peterborough
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
jonathan
A lengthy but totally involving study of Churchill's life. Covering all aspects of his life, from his birth into one of the great English families, his early adventures in South Africa and subsequent beginnings of his political career, to his disastrous involvement in the Dardanelles campaign during the First World War, his invaluable leadership during the Second World War, and his 'second career' as a Nobel Prize winning author (let alone his pastime as a skilled and well respected painter), th...more
May 23, 2013
Jim
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
british-political-biography
Churchill is probably the most famous English politician in the world. This thousand page book is a complete examination of his life. By the end of it, you won't be under illusions about his life.
As I said, this is a thorough book. It is also strange -to me at least. Churchill is probably as close to a beatified politician (in England at lease) as it is possible to get (though I suspect that William Wilberforce might push him close if people were more aware of him). I'm not sure why, but I expec...more
As I said, this is a thorough book. It is also strange -to me at least. Churchill is probably as close to a beatified politician (in England at lease) as it is possible to get (though I suspect that William Wilberforce might push him close if people were more aware of him). I'm not sure why, but I expec...more
A wonderfully well written and read biography of the greatest Englishman of the 20th century. One marvels at the breadth of achievements that this man accomplished in his life. A great author, a soldier and commander, a leader who served in office for many decades achieving the highest post in his nation not once, but twice, who led his nation with pugnacity and resolve through the most trying of ordeals and brought it through the darkness to victory. No other leader traveled and toiled as much...more
Narrated by Robert Whitfield
37 hrs and 31 mins
Publisher's Summary
Winston Churchill is an icon of modern history, but even though he was at the forefront of the political scene for almost 60 years, he might be remembered only as a minor player in the drama of British government had it not been for World War II. In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's a...more
37 hrs and 31 mins
Publisher's Summary
Winston Churchill is an icon of modern history, but even though he was at the forefront of the political scene for almost 60 years, he might be remembered only as a minor player in the drama of British government had it not been for World War II. In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's a...more
Is greatness entirely contingent on being the right man in the right place at the right time? If, when Churchill was struck by a car in New York City in 1931, the injuries had proved fatal, then he would be remembered no more than as a colourful actor on the British political stage, whose positive contributions, such as the introduction of Labour Exchanges and Employment insurance in 1909, were more than overwhelmed by his political disasters - such as his advocacy of Gallipoli, the return to th...more
Well-reviewed but only periodically interesting biography of the British statesman and author. Jenkins is perhaps too inside and too much a chronicler of Churchill’s calendar to do for Churchill what so many of Lincoln’s biographers have done for their subject. Despite his final conclusion that Churchill is not just the best Prime Minister of the 20th century but also the greatest of all time, nosing Gladstone, the 19th century’s champion PM, you don’t get a sense of what makes him such an estim...more
I have little comparison material, except for a partial read of the partial Churchill biography by William Manchester, of which I remember little, however this biography is manageable (if anything about Churchill is), at 900 pages. Given Roy Jenkins' own political experience, giving him first hand exposure to Churchill, it is lively with a deep appreciation of the man.
It is also balanced by a maturity of judgment, which can appreciate the man in spite of how impossible he could be at times. For...more
It is also balanced by a maturity of judgment, which can appreciate the man in spite of how impossible he could be at times. For...more
Took me some blood and sweat - no tears - to get through this. The biography centers on the political details - somewhat hard to understand all angles if you don't know the British parliamentary system almost by heart. The heaps of details are not an obsession of the author but stem from Churchill's amazing output of energy. If you're only interested in an overview of his life - pick up some lighter version. I found it hard to get the picture of the man himself - that hides somewhere between the...more
An excellent portrait of Churchill complete with all of his glories and flaws. Today, it is somewhat difficult to think of Mr. Churchill as anything but a hero of the Twentieth Century who warned the world that the rising tides of nazism and facism where evil, who during the lowest hours of World War II resolved to fight on, and who muttered prescient words about an "iron curtain" stretching through Europe. This book, however, delves into his early days as a rable rouser, unabashed colonialist,...more
A comprehensive and relatively unbiased biography, which is rare. Jenkins experience as a Parliamentarian enables him to give insights into Churchill's thinking unavailable to the normal biographer. There is a remarkable amount of detail on Churchill's early life and career. This does, however, come at the expense of a fairly rushed account of the Second World War.
This was an outstanding book and I learned a lot about Churchill and about British politics. But the book is very challenging. Written by a member of Parliment, it includes a lot of inside stories and background that I think you have to be at least British if not a member of the Government during the 1920s to 1940s in order to fully understand it.
This is a well-writen, amusing biography. Roy Jenkin's own exerience as a British member of parliament and minister usefully illuminates Churchill's life. Of course, Churchill lead a more interesting life than most politicians, having previously been a soldier, journalist, author, prisoner of war, and escapee from a prisoner of war camp.
Very nearly flawless. This is not a book for a quick read, and over almost five years I continually picked it up and put it down whilst I read other books. The sheer scale of Jenkins brief is breathtaking and the attention to detail astounding, charting the life of the greatest Briton over almost 1,000 heavily detailed pages.
It was pretty rough at times. Written from a strong parliamentary perspective and was based heavily on meeting minutes, diaries and personal correspondence. There were certainly some engaging parts, however, and it was fun noting when Churchill himself embellished or missed facts in his own accounts of what happened.
I loved Churchill's History of the Second World War, so when this book came out, I bought it. It had had good reviews from people who pointed out how well-qualified Jenkins was to write about his illustrious predecessor, having himself had top posts in the British Government.
Well... I wish I could say I knew why it didn't come together. I just didn't feel very gripped by the story, which is funny, because Churchill had a truly incredible life. Maybe there was too much detail, or Jenkins isn't th...more
Well... I wish I could say I knew why it didn't come together. I just didn't feel very gripped by the story, which is funny, because Churchill had a truly incredible life. Maybe there was too much detail, or Jenkins isn't th...more
Haven't read any other biographies of Winston Churchill, so nothing to compare against, but this one is OK. Very detailed, very British in orientation. I find myself having to look up contemporary / past British politicians to get some understanding of a reference the author made that I have to assume would make more sense to a Brit. Had an exciting juxtaposition of events when I read about Churchill visiting Roosevelt over Christmas one year during the war, reading that he (Churchill) had never...more
Some great information on WSC but sometimes loses focus. Jenkins can't resist long asides about Gladstone, the subject of an earlier biography of his, nor can he resist the sort of commentary that tells us much more about him than his subject. At times the book suffers from an overabundance of clauses to the extent that by the end of a sentence you have forgotten the beginning (indeed, Jenkins appears to forget himself on occasion). There are a surprising number of grammatical and typographical...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Painter, Poet, WWII hero | 1 | 1 | Jan 02, 2008 11:16am |
There is more than one author with this name
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM PC was a British politician. Once prominent as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister in the 1960s and 1970s, he became the first (and so far only) British President of the European Commission (1977-81) and one of the four principal founders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981....more
More about Roy Jenkins...
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM PC was a British politician. Once prominent as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister in the 1960s and 1970s, he became the first (and so far only) British President of the European Commission (1977-81) and one of the four principal founders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981....more
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