Customer Reviews

Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I don't have anything against attorneys as a group of people, but as I read this book, the phrase that kept returning to me was "clever lawyer's trick." Though Gretchen Rubin continually describes this as "a personal look" at "*my* Churchill," it seems as much a demonstration of the talented lawyer's ability to passionately argue both sides of a question while never making more than an intellectual commitment to either. On the whole, this is a book that's as much about the author as it is the subject.

Many of the reviews on this page describe this book as a good shorter biography of Churchill, but for people looking for a brief introductory volume, I would much sooner point them to one of the excellent short bios that came out in 2002, Lukacs' Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian. or Keegan's Winston Churchill: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives). Both of them are "conventional" narrative biographies, but each does a fine job laying out the motivations, facts, and consequences of Churchill's massive life. I think it's better to master the themes before exploring the variations, as Rubin does. And while not everyone wants to read thick tomes like Jenkins or Rose or Manchester (or still yet the official biography by Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert), I'm afraid anyone who relies on "Forty Ways..." as their sole source of information on, and interpretation of, the life of the Man of the (Twentieth) Century will be selling herself short.

Where this book does shine is in its ability to summarize, highlight important trends and impressions, and compare-and-contrast conflicting interpretations of the man under the microscope. Her central point -- that biographers sift facts in order to prove the point they're trying to make -- is incontrovertible, if perhaps a bit broad-brush. Rubin's perspective, mentioned several times, as the first Churchill biographer (or one of them? I'm not sure) whose life did not overlap his is an interesting one, but perhaps less significant than she credits it to be. And I say that as someone who myself missed overlapping Churchill's life by some 30 months.

On the whole, this is an interesting intellectual exercise, with some new insights and interpretations and a few noteworthy points. But I have to disagree with those who call it a wonderful biography. It's not -- at least, not in any conventional sense. But if you already have some familiarity with the building blocks Gretchen Rubin is rearranging, you may find it worthwhile to join in her experimentation yourself.

This already short book should be about 50 pages shorter yet. It is laced with repeated quotes, phrases, and facts. The first time you read that Churchill carried a lance in one of history's last cavalry charges, it's fascinating. The second time, it's a surprise to see the statement repeated almost verbatim. The third time, it's an insult.

Again and again (and again), this pattern is repeated. On one page, the same clause from a Churchill quote appears three times. Enough already. It's bad enough that the writer made this mistake, but it's unforgivable for the editor to let it pass for publication in this shape. By paring 50 pages off the manuscript, it would be just what it claims to be -- not a bad short rehash of the existing Churchill biographies.

Save your money. Get another Churchill biography.

Tucked into the Select Bibliography on p. 284 is a telling detail, a confession by the author that "Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill rests on the work of more comprehensive biographers." A more honest book would have included this key piece of information up front. The author is neither a biographer nor a Churchill scholar, but someone who combines her reading of other people's work with the not-very-earth-shattering (and by the end of the book tiresome) idea that a life can be seen from a variety of perspectives, and Churchill was a complex and sometimes contradictory figure. Rubin comes across as a dilettante (complete with a self-promoting website, duly noted on the dust jacket). All in all, an irritating book.

Gretchen Craft Rubin is not a historian or a professional Churchillphile but rather someone who came to develop a fascination with this great man in recent years much like myself. She is also someone who was only born as Churchill's life was ending so all of her interest in Churchill is historical. What she has done here is to write 40 short essays each coming at Churchill from a different perspective. Some essays examine Churchill as husband and father, Churchill as leader, Churchill from a revisionist standpoint and many others. Indeed, this book serves as a very brief introduction to all that continues to make Churchill so interesting, nearly forty years after his death. Nothing new or original is contained in this book but it is interesting and well-written and I would recommend it to anyone interested in WInston Churchill

Contrary to one previous reviewer, who clearly wrote his hasty review during a commercial break on Fox, this is a brilliant primer on Churchill- for those who have read every book, it poses a series of provocative questions about the man behind the icon and for those who haven't read a word, this is a great place to start.

For conservatives and liberals alike, a scintillating examination of one of the most important men of the modern era.

Must be all that hot air in Scottsdale...

I bought this book while I was writing a book of my own in which Churchill is a central figure. I wanted new insights on the man, and listening to the author on a radio talk show, I thought she might be able to provide those for me. I was sadly disappointed when I started reading the book.

The title comes from the fact that Rubin offers 40 exceptionally brief chapters (3 to 5 pages in length) that offer a different "perspective" on Churchill. The idea probably sound very good and innovative as a book proposal, but it is such a shallow account that the reader can be excused for feeling deceived. Chapter three is nothing more than a listing of people Churchill met during his life. Chapter fourteen is nothing other than a listing of facts about the man in bullet format. Each chapter as three complete sentences. Another chapter is a collection of quotes from him and another about him.

I spent good hard earned money on this book, if you choose to read this book I suggest you borrow it from the library instead.

I was recently asked which year in the 20th Century I would choose to live and why. I said "1940" with the rationale that this was the great turning point in history when the values of western civilization might've been lost. They weren't lost because a single indominable man stood firm. Had the newly installed PM, in May-June of that year, sided with Halifax and the other peace seekers, Hitler would have won. What followed would have been just mopping up.

Gretchen Rubin succinctly illuminates this great man in a new and fresh format. She writes extremely well. This is the perfect first or second book for a reader just catching the Churchill bug. (Following Manchester and Gilbert) It belongs on any short list of Churchill books. One hopes Ms. Rubin won't stop here.

40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill will be of interest to two groups of readers- those who know something about the man, but who haven't the time or interest to read a full biography, and those interested in Rubin's approach- presenting brief chapters devoted to one aspect of the subject's life. Especially interesting are the contradictory chapters- such as "Churchill had a drinking problem", paired with "Churchill didn't have a drinking problem." With the mega-biography still in fashion, this is a breath of fresh air.

We Churchill-o-files are used to voluminous works by and about Mr. Churchill, and I was looking forward to a more concise treatise on this complex man. However, Ms. Rubin's book was so engrossingly entertaining and informative that I found myself lamenting its relative brevity. The author has done the "heavy lifting" in compiling many little-known facts about one of the greatest statesmen of all time. Her personal insights, formed from what was an obviously extensively researched data base, were invaluable in helping me to understand the private side of this great leader.

The amazing thing about this book -- and what makes it so satisfying to read -- is that it both satisfies the craving for biography (it's crammed with fascinating facts about Churchill and different portraits of his personality) and undermines the idea that there can ever be a unitary, authoritative biography, especially of so complex a personality as Churchill's. This book is a great gift both for your husband, dad, or grandpa the history buff, and for your intellectual English major daughter, who might grow up to be the next Gretchen Rubin someday.