Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry, 1874-1915

by Ted Morgan

Chronicling Churchill's life from his boyhood through his dismissal as First Lord of the Admiralty after the disastrous Dardanelles expedition, this biography vividly details Churchill's life and times.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, British Literature

624 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Born Saint-Charles Armand Gabriel de Gramont*, he used the name Sanche de Gramont as his byline (and also on his books) during the early part of his career. He worked as a journalist for many years, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for local reporting written under pressure of a deadline. He first came to the United States in 1937, and became a naturalized citizen in February 1977, at which time he had his name legally changed to Ted Morgan. He was a National Book Award finalist in 1982 for Maugham: A Biography.


*His father was a military pilot who died in an accident in 1943, at which point he inherited the title "Comte de Gramont". He was properly styled "Saint-Charles Armand Gabriel, Comte de Gramont" until he renounced his title upon becoming a U.S. citizen in 1977.

Reviews

[Joel Robert Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If genius can be described as an infinite capacity for detail, he was not wanting. His mind was equally at home with sweeping abstractions and small technical particulars . . . He longed for action, for the decisiveness of military life, in contrast to the drift of the cabinet. He did not know what was in store if he survived. Whatever it was, he would bring it to the granite patience of ambition, which outlast suffering and shrugs off failure, which retires later than vice, and rises earlier than virtue."

Historical writer and biographer Ted Morgan's CHURCHILL YOUNG MAN IN A HURRY 1874 — 1915 , is a meticulously detailed account of the man; his birth and early childhood, his early educational challenges, his daredevil-like adventure seeking and fascination with military logistics, his aspirations for writing and the nuances of politics, to finally, his ascension to lead the Admiralty preceding the outbreak of World War I. Controversial and opinionated from the start, his accomplishments were matched only by his list of adversaries, both political and military, from whom he would not shy away from in being both unorthodox and nontraditional; alienating friends and allies alike. He was often portrayed as one who would betray both his party and their causes to satisfy personal ambition, and if he didn't originate political duplicity, he certainly refined its blueprint.


Yet while steeped in political minutia of historical actors, causes, and their eternal parliamentary wrangling, this protracted biography excels best when it devotes itself to Churchill's penchant for seeking out active war adventures and "big picture" causes; building notoriety if being motivated only to ensure his own future political capitol. His steadfast belief early on, that despite a continued disparaging and dismissive attitude from his father, he was destined to be indestructible in every sense and take his place in history. It's a narrative treadmill, driving and recounting both his daredevil life on foreign battle fronts and exploring the potentials of early aviation in warfare; his achievements of building bigger ships, bigger guns, and maintaining the dominance of a British navel presence was all in anticipating the first European war. And in all this, he was just setting the stage for an even greater future notoriety of historic accomplishments, ones that would be revealed in the 2nd world war that would follow.

For a story of a "young man in a hurry", it certainly satisfied this old man taking his time.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been into a lot of WWI history lately, and obviously Churchill was pivotal. This is a pretty standard biography: starts with an anecdote, then jumps to his grandparents, follows it all the way to the man himself.
Lots of good information, but this is a LONG book that stops abruptly with Churchill being ousted after the disaster of the Dardenelles campaign in WWI. Unfortunately, by the time war strikes the author moves away from the man and into the politcis of the time so you lose your feel for Churchill.
Not bad, but if you're reading about Churchill go with books by Gilbert.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is at times tedious in the amount of detail shared about his life, but the nuggets contained in that firehose of information are worth the read. Churchill was one of the most influential leaders of the entire 20th Century and his formative years and climb to prominence are outlined in this book. The length is tedious, but the information is valuable.

[William Shep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book on the young Churchill in action.

[Tom Menacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mildly interesting read, although some of the detail is tedious. (The book is after all 600 pages.)

I did not know much about Winston Churchill beyond the various motion picture portrayals and World War II newsreels and the popular image of him standing cigar-in-hand against the Nazis in 1940. This apparently was his second career.

But this book paints a portrait of a man who sprang from a British upper class that seemed to be blind to the imminent collapse of their British Empire in the mess that was World War I. After a stint in the army in South Africa, Churchill followed his father into parliament, and spent the first part of his life trying to shake some life into the institution. It was a kind of trench warfare. Churchill, who was all for action and change and strike-while-the-iron-is-hot, finds himself (by the end of the book) pushed out of the government at age 40 by all of the old men who resent his energy as much as they dismiss his ideas.

[George Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read. Spends a lot of ink on Churchill's many shortcomings. Most important though one can see elements of the greatness that would highlight much of the rest of his life.