What do you think?
Rate this book
Winston S. Churchill #2
Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman, 1901-1914
Volume II of this magisterial eight-volume biography takes Churchill’s story from his entry to Parliament in 1901 to the outbreak of war in 1914. When he took his seat in the House of Commons he was twenty-six years old. An independent spirit and rebel, on his maiden speech he was cheered by the Leader of the Opposition.
On 31 May 1904, three years after entering Parliament, Churchill joined the Liberals. In December 1905 he entered the government as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. In April 1908 he joined the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. On 12 September 1908 he married Miss Clementine Hozier. Their daughter Diana was born in 1909 and their son Randolph in 1911.
In the years leading up to the First World War, Churchill was at the center of British political life and change. At the Home Office he introduced substantial prison reforms and took a lead in curbing the powers of the House of Lords. At the Admiralty from 1911 he helped build the Royal Navy into a formidable fighting force. He learned to fly, and founded the Royal Naval Air Service. He was active in attempts to resolve the Irish Question and to prevent civil war in Ireland.
In 1914, as war in Europe loomed, Churchill wrote to his wife from the Admiralty: “The preparations have a hideous fascination for me, yet I would do my best for peace, and nothing would induce me wrongfully to strike the blow. I cannot feel that we in this island are in any serious degree responsible for the wave of madness which has swept the mind of Christendom.”
When war came, the fleet was ready. It was one of Churchill’s great achievements.
On 31 May 1904, three years after entering Parliament, Churchill joined the Liberals. In December 1905 he entered the government as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. In April 1908 he joined the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. On 12 September 1908 he married Miss Clementine Hozier. Their daughter Diana was born in 1909 and their son Randolph in 1911.
In the years leading up to the First World War, Churchill was at the center of British political life and change. At the Home Office he introduced substantial prison reforms and took a lead in curbing the powers of the House of Lords. At the Admiralty from 1911 he helped build the Royal Navy into a formidable fighting force. He learned to fly, and founded the Royal Naval Air Service. He was active in attempts to resolve the Irish Question and to prevent civil war in Ireland.
In 1914, as war in Europe loomed, Churchill wrote to his wife from the Admiralty: “The preparations have a hideous fascination for me, yet I would do my best for peace, and nothing would induce me wrongfully to strike the blow. I cannot feel that we in this island are in any serious degree responsible for the wave of madness which has swept the mind of Christendom.”
When war came, the fleet was ready. It was one of Churchill’s great achievements.
764 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
72 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Read
January 12, 2019About halfway through, I decided this was too long to get through and I wouldn't read the next volume, but when I finished this second volume, i was beginning to remember names and places I'd head about as a child. Now I'm anxious to get into the next book. Told through letters mostly, this has the human element that history courses don't usually have. Had history been told this way, I'd have learned more, I'm sure. People and their motives for doing what they do keep me interested. I'd recommend this series for anyone who has the time to devote to an interesting history lesson.
I'd also recommend lighter reading to go alongside it.
I'd also recommend lighter reading to go alongside it.
June 23, 2018
This is a long and slow read, but I pushed forward being a huge WSC fan. It sort of picks up and moves a little faster in the second half and towards the end. Lots of letters to and from WSC and others including his wife, the King, the PM, etc. At this time, WSC was a Liberal, but as we move along from the Colonial Office, to the Home Office and then to First Lord of the Admiralty, we see the young Winston being formed and changed. He was not afraid to speak his mind or the truth and he dealt with a good deal of pushback and hatred, similar to today, which brings me to this. We're still dealing with the same nonsense and issues. The names have changed along with the verbiage, but people are people and humans don't seem to ever evolve.
Back to the story. You will get a good sense of WSC as a 30 something year old and see how serious and hardworking he was. I've read other biographies of WSC, and this one gets into the weeds and gives you a different perspective. Seeing his interactions with Asquith, Lloyd George, the King, Clementine, and others through letters adds an accuracy bereft in other books.
At most times, you will not know that his son Randolph is the author. Other books portray their relationship as a troubled one. You don't see that here. I enjoyed the sections on the Navy and build up of ships, planes, and his love of flying. His distrust of Germany begins at this time, and we'll have to wait till the Great War continues and sadly gets going in volume 3.
Back to the story. You will get a good sense of WSC as a 30 something year old and see how serious and hardworking he was. I've read other biographies of WSC, and this one gets into the weeds and gives you a different perspective. Seeing his interactions with Asquith, Lloyd George, the King, Clementine, and others through letters adds an accuracy bereft in other books.
At most times, you will not know that his son Randolph is the author. Other books portray their relationship as a troubled one. You don't see that here. I enjoyed the sections on the Navy and build up of ships, planes, and his love of flying. His distrust of Germany begins at this time, and we'll have to wait till the Great War continues and sadly gets going in volume 3.
May 13, 2018
There's a lot to both like and dislike about this book. One the one hand, it's a hagiography. Everything good that happened to Britain was because of WSC; everything bad that happened was because people didn't like to him. After a while, it gets wearisome. And the level of detail is tedious. I don't need to read every letter to and from WSC, or know what everyone had to say about everything or what he had for lunch. It may be of interest to some, but not to me.
However, as a political history, it's fascinating. I've always known Churchill as a guy who was in the Boer War, had something to do with Gallipoli, and then saved the world from the Nazis. He did a hell of a lot more. He was involved with setting up union rights, pensions, workers' holidays, labour exchanges, and much else. And of course, this was from the days where politics wasn't about soundbites and social media: he was, without a doubt, a master orator, capable of explaining complex ideas in terms anyone could understand, and he made some damn fine speeches.
Yes, he was probably a seriously irritating man, and he unquestionably was not perfect, but I'm beginning to understand why he should be regarded as a great politician and a great leader.
However, as a political history, it's fascinating. I've always known Churchill as a guy who was in the Boer War, had something to do with Gallipoli, and then saved the world from the Nazis. He did a hell of a lot more. He was involved with setting up union rights, pensions, workers' holidays, labour exchanges, and much else. And of course, this was from the days where politics wasn't about soundbites and social media: he was, without a doubt, a master orator, capable of explaining complex ideas in terms anyone could understand, and he made some damn fine speeches.
Yes, he was probably a seriously irritating man, and he unquestionably was not perfect, but I'm beginning to understand why he should be regarded as a great politician and a great leader.
May 18, 2017
The second volume is a bit ponderous, hence my 4 star vice 5 star rating. It did have some surprises for me, though. I was unaware that at this stage of his career (he was 40 years old by the end of the volume) he'd changed parties and was part of the liberal party, where he served in the pre-WW1 British Government, as a minister to include 1st Sea Lord. Because there is so much correspondence shared, to include personal and somewhat intimate letters, it does drag at times, and a 700+ page volume is a lot to digest. With that said, this volume lays the foundation of the who, what, where and why work and activity that would prepare him for his historic leadership as Prime Minister during WWII. The book ends, as the United Kingdom is entering the war against Germany in WWI. It's climax is Churchill's preparations, as 1st Sea Lord, the Royal Navy's preparation for this first global conflict. He prepared them well. Enjoy the read!
June 7, 2021
The book fills in details of Churchill's life that most biographies skim over. That's the strength, but also the weakness of the book. As you plow through the details, you can lose track of the overall plot (or timeline) of the life.
I think Randolph relied too much on letters to tell the tale, but if you are interested in Churchill's life the book is worth reading. Randolph, though a son who admired his father, seems willing to let the records speak for themselves. That's a strength of this book also.
As for Churchill himself, in this period, the unique youth described in the first volume becomes a driven young man in the second. He was very confident of his own views and quite ready to push for them. His colleagues must have found this very challenging to deal with. Part of the challenge would be the realization that Churchill had better insight in international affairs than they did... after the fact, of course.
All in all, a good book, though style could use some improvement.
I think Randolph relied too much on letters to tell the tale, but if you are interested in Churchill's life the book is worth reading. Randolph, though a son who admired his father, seems willing to let the records speak for themselves. That's a strength of this book also.
As for Churchill himself, in this period, the unique youth described in the first volume becomes a driven young man in the second. He was very confident of his own views and quite ready to push for them. His colleagues must have found this very challenging to deal with. Part of the challenge would be the realization that Churchill had better insight in international affairs than they did... after the fact, of course.
All in all, a good book, though style could use some improvement.
February 11, 2023
The second volume of Churchill's biography written by his son Randolph. This period covers his appointments in the Liberal Government after he crossed the floor of the House of Commons from the Conservatives, his marriage to Clementine Hozier and his unrelenting work before the First World War as First Lord of the Admiralty. It also deal with well known crises where WSC was in the thick of it including Agadir, the beginnings of the welfare state and the Parliament Act curbing the power of the House of Lords to stop legislation proposed by the Commons. The volume quotes extensively from correspondence and documents, official and unofficial. Politicians were great letter writers in those days with many archives being preserved. Churchill's fortunes fluctuated. In this volume he is on the "up" but that was not always going to be the case.
November 9, 2017
Excellent study on politics and history.
A great example of many apparently timeless political principles as well as a readable and accessible historical account. Look forward to continuing progress through these volumes.
A great example of many apparently timeless political principles as well as a readable and accessible historical account. Look forward to continuing progress through these volumes.
June 21, 2021
I loved this book. It is an extremely thorough account of WSCs personal and political proceedings in the early 1900s. I particularly loved the little doodles WSC and his wife sent to each other with their letters.
May 12, 2025
What a great read
June 19, 2012
A formally stiff but priceless document of the incomparably energetic Winston Churchill as a young MP, written by his son Randolph. The biography itself mostly sticks to the facts and presents unedited versions of the letters of Churchill himself. This was an incredibly exciting time in British politics and it fascinating to see how the Liberal government of that time implemented many social reforms 20 years prior to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. This was the second volume in the official biography of Churchill. Randolph died soon after its completion, and Martin Gilbert completed the rest of the volumes.
February 29, 2016
Worth every minute! Highly recommended for anyone who loves the minutiae of political infighting and other policy-wonk types of discussions. The similiarities between Churchill's unemployment exchanges and Obamacare were striking to me. It's an interesting question of whether certain types of "socialist" solutions are workable or commendable when there is a lot of face to face interaction involved (ie Churchill's exchanges were actual physical places where one could be hired) whereas once they simply become faceless levers they simply lose both their integrity and workability...
August 9, 2015
A solid picture of Churchill as a young officer and MP, culminating in his appointment as First Lord of the Admiralty on the verge of World War I. Strange to read of the great Tory PM in his early days as a Liberal reformer.
February 5, 2016
1972 ed.
January 19, 2018
Seems to take us from his election to Commons as a Tory to his switch to the Liberal Party and being first Lord of the Admiralty, having prepared the British Navy for WWI. First rate man! First rate biography! Only six volumes left to read. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews