Customer Reviews

Churchill's War Volume II: Triumph in Adversity

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book, is not what I expected, I thought I was going to read a two volume bashing on the British leader during World War II. But instead, David Irving once more demonstrates his skills as a thorough researcher and an easy to follow writer. You get an intimate look into the life of Winston Churchill, you learn about his vices, his faults but also you grow to admire him, to admire his dexterity as a cunning, resourceful, manipulative and a brilliant man, you finish reading, the two volumes, understanding why he was the only man capable of being the Prime Minister and why he took the Allies to final victory.

Along the pages you'll learn of a lot that things that happened 'behind the curtain', you'll know of military operations that you never heard to talk of before, as well as familiar topics as the Battle of Britain, the sinking of the Bismark, the Battle of the Atlantic, North Africa: Rommel vs Montgomery, the 'Dambusters', etc. Learn how the United Nations Organization was born, how the Manhattan project was put under way, or why at No.10 Downing Street they knew, beforehand, of every german military operation (and japanese too!); & you'll read about family gossips too.

Let's hope that once David Irving is released from prison, he can conclude writing, and that he publishes the long awaited volume III. I'm sure that in several decades from now, and once this policy, politically motivated, of mental censorship be over, David Irving will go down in history as one of the best WWII historians.

This is the second part of Irving's Churchill 'biography'. It is fascinating reading, but tends not to be a easy a read as his first volume. The fact that Irving is not an admirer of his subject is clearly evident, but it seems that only people outside the UK have this uncritical mythic view of Churchill that certainly does not stand up to reality. Personally I find Irving's view of Churchill to be refreshng and probably the most truthful version of the man thats out there to be read. Churchill is painted as an intelligent, uncompromising and rather ruthless individual on one hand and sympathethic, understanding and somewhat noble gentleman on the other. This book is far more ballenced than the worthless and grovelling 'biography' that Martin Gilbert wrote.
Forget all the nonsense and hyperbole that surrounds Irving and his enforced labelling and read the book, in fact I would urge eveybody to read any Irving book and then make up your own mind and not be swayed by the biased opinions of other people.

What I love about David Irving's histories is that they are always written "in the moment" from the subject's point of view. This makes for a very exciting narrative all culled from Irving's deep researches in the archives, diaries, letters, and interviews with people close to the subject. It is like you are reliving history as it actually happens.

The first two volumes of the biography show a very balanced view of Churchill, both postive and negative, as any historian should approach a subject. In many ways, it was Churchill's negative characteristics, his stubborness, vainness, his desperate clutching for political power when it was all but gone, and ruthlessness with his opponents, that proved to be exactly what Britain needed to win its war with Hitler. The negative consequence of this was of course the loss of Britain's Empire and Soviet supremacy in Eastern Europe.

Irving's archive work all over the world has brought forward some amazing gems of knowledge concerning many of Churchill's contemporaries in England, and also of people like Roosevelt and the Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King whose dabblings with mysticism and superstition provide some comic relief to the narrative. More serious and controversial is Churchill's wartime dealings with Stalin.

Much like his biographies of the major players on the German side of the war, Irving has created another historical gem backed by massive documentary detail, this time about the goings on of "our" side. Another stunning achievement.

Much like Daivd Irving's earlier books, "War Between the Generals," "Path To War," and "Goring," I am enjoying his three volume set about Winston Churchill. Uncompromising, balanced, and definitely well researched,it brings to light certain issues like Stalin's continuing pressure upon the Allies to create a second front, the assassination of Darlan, and how the different personalities helped form the allies' foreign policies. As a history teacher and a combat veteran, who has also written a book about the uncertainties of war "Arc Light," I have always enjoyed Irving's works, even though, many view him in a negative light. Notwithstanding, it is extremely obvious from my personal experiences and from my years of reading about and also teaching history that official versions of powerful personalities or events are very deceiving and not at all accurate. David Irving dares to bring to light the strengths and weaknesses of Churchill and his overriding determination to make a pact with the devil (Stalin), drag the USA into the war, and defeat Nazi Germany at whatever the cost.

Ignore the hate merchants of the Jewish lobby whose hatred for Irving blinds them. This is, like all of Irving's books, a thoroughly well researched and factual work of the highest order. It is certainly not fiction (a totally idiotic claim), as every word has been backed up by original source material. Irving's arguments are certainly revisionist, and the picture of Churchill that comes out is not often a very positive one, but there is nothing here that hasn't been researched in the most minute detail.
David Irving has shown himself once again to be a historian of the highest quality. We may disagree with many of his views, but nobody can genuinely dispute his skills as a writer of history and historical biographies. Superb!

David Irving does it again.In a masterpiece of original and fully documented research, Irving tells about the real Winston Churchill.The man who sacrificed his countries predominance in the world possibly forever for his own twisted ends and special interest groups whose ideas he was more loyal to than that of his own country.

As one reviewer said, ignore the liars and enemies of free speech. Please read this exceedingly well documented biography of Churchill's middle War years....it will burst bubbles, hence the author's negative reputation amongst those who like their bubbles eternal.

If you want to know about WWII, first hand from the Brits side (every country has a side), this is the book!
I have read and reread WSC's "Second World War," which left out so much.
Get also Irvings "HITLER'S WAR," to find out what Hitler knew and when he knew it.
"Hitler's War" and "Churchill's War" (so far two volumes) illuminate the war as no one else has done.
Every book by David Irving is a thoroughly researched work without peer.
You will not be disappointed in any Irving book!

Author Irving wrote a significant work on the Allied destruction of the undefended Saxon museum city of Dresden in 1945. It was well-researched and carefullly written. That was a long time ago and Irving, who has churned out many other books in the meantime, has never lived up to his initial promise. The Churchill books are thinly written and display the author's animosity towards his subject on every page. His works on Adolf Hitler and his people, on the other hand, glow with unfeigned appreciation and praise. A good historian, if he is worth the title, should write with objectivity and not to a preconceived idea. In all of Irving's books one can find signs of considerable research and this alone is their primary worth. Irving has been able, in years past, to locate and utilize many hitherto obscure diaries and letters. However, that having been said, what Irving does with this information is quite another matter. For a researcher and persons possessing in-depth knowledge of Irving's subject, these books, including the ones now under review, have considerable merit. For those newly arrived at the subject of 20th Century political history, the Irving books should be taken with much greater care. Irving initially denounced the notorious fake "Hitler Diaries" and then, seeing that they were being accepted by the British media, reversed himself and proclaimed them to be absolutely genuine. It has been said that Irving was the first person to call these documents fake and the last to authenticate them. The Churchill books have much of valuable technical interest in them but precious little objectivity.

This is a beautifully printed work with an eye-catching cover but from a historian's viewpoint, filled with information that just simply cannot be checked out. It is plainly evident that the author does not like his subject and this dislike is evident on every page. Churchill was a great, if often badly flawed, leader of wartime Britain and this book is not balanced in any sense at all. This is little more than a ... polemic. One ought, at the very least,to damn with faint praise.