Customer Reviews

El futur d'Andorra: 4a Diada Andorrana, XXVI Universitat Catalana d'Estiu, del 15 al 24 d'agost de 1991, Prada de Conflent (Catalan Edition)

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My copy of this book is entitled "An Informal Study of Greatness." What the subtitle promises, the book delivers. Rather than an exhaustive look at each and every event of importance, Taylor gives us a glimpse of Churchill, the man, in a series of anecdotes and vignettes. For example, WWII occupies approximately the same space as the material on his hobby painting. However, as the book was written in 1952 (when Churchill was still alive), and because Churchill himself was so guarded about giving interviews, this was the necessary method of writing. It is very successful, though. Taylor supplies wit and flow to the narrative, so it is very easy and entertaining to read.

Churchill's views would today seem prehistoric - he was against universal suffrage, for example. Likewise, the narrative suffers somewhat for having been written in a time of universal chauvenism. This does not detract from the book - it's always necessary to judge people relative to the times in which they lived, and Churchill's life took place in a time of immense social and military change.

It's clear that the author respects and admires Churchill, but not to the detriment of his objectivity. He does not gloss over Churchill's heavy drinking, lack of fashion sense, or child-like impatience. He does not dwell on them, either, instead moving quickly from story to story to give a sense of the personality of the man, not a detailed analysis of his political or social views.

This book is a fascinating glimpse at the man behind the legend. It's too bad it's been out of print for some time, but it's not too difficult to find used - I gather the book did well, so there's lots of copies out there.

Taylor's biography of Churchill is one of the more interesting biographies I have read. His task is substantial: putting the life of Churchill into a volume with the loud background of the twentieth century is not easy to do. Taylor has managed to give us a kind but honest treatment of one of the great men of the twentieth century. Churchill shines at most everything he does. Although a terrible boy and student at Harrow School, he emerged as a leader at Sandhurst, then a seeker of wars and crises, an early visionary of the threat from Adolph Hitler as well as the Soviet Union and through it all a most controversial figure. How else can we explain his being ousted from his position of Prime Minister two months after he completed his role in orchestrating the defeat of Hitler? Artist, voluminous writer, military officer, faithful husband: all these qualities and more spring forth from the witty pen of Robert Lewis Taylor.