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The Gathering Storm (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) [Kindle Edition]

Winston Churchill
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Winston Churchill’s monumental The Second World War, is a six volume account of the struggle between the Allied Powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this book is also the story of one nation’s heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Having learned a lesson at Munich they would never forget, the British refused to make peace with Hitler, defying him even after France had fallen and it seemed as though the Nazis were unstoppable.

What lends this work its tension is Churchill’s inclusion of primary source material. We hear Churchill’s retrospective analysis of the war, but we are also presented with memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams that give day-by-day accounts of the reactions as the drama unfolds. We listen as strategies and counter-strategies unfold in response to Hitler’s conquest of Europe, his planned invasion of England, and his assault on Russia. All contrive to give a mesmerizing account of the crucial decisions that must be made as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

While in some ways a continuation of Churchill’s history of World War I, The World Crisis, The Gathering Storm is his attempt to understand the terrible circumstance that gave rise to Nazi Germany and a second, even more destructive world conflict. Churchill was perhaps the only person who held such prominent positions of power in both world wars and as such, was uniquely qualified to tell the story from war to peace and back again.

The Gathering Storm covers the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the capitulation of Munich and the entry of Britain into the war. This book makes clear Churchill’s feeling that the Second World War was a largely senseless but unavoidable conflict.

Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 in part because of this awe-inspiring work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Winston Churchill was born in 1874 and was one of the most significant leaders of the twentieth century. He acted as a war correspondent during the Boer War and after his capture and release, Churchill became a national hero in England, parlaying that celebrity into a political career becoming elected to the Conservative Party. Churchill joined the Liberal Party in 1904. Churchill’s career was volatile during the 1920s and ’30s owing, in part, to his support of the abdication of King Edward VIII, but when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Churchill was reappointed Lord of the Admiralty.

In 1940, Churchill succeeded Chamberlain as Prime Minister and remained in office until 1945. Churchill successfully guided the nation through World War II, mobilizing and inspiring the British people as well as forging strong ties with American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Churchill remained in Parliament and was re-elected in 1951 and did not resign until 1955 when he was eighty years old.

After retirement, Churchill remained incredibly active, spending his time writing, publishing The History of the English Speaking People and more. That work, along with his six volume history of World War II and The World Crisis, his history of World War I, earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. In 1963 Churchill was made an honorary U.S. citizen. He died in 1965 at the age of ninety.

ABOUT THE SERIES

RosettaBooks’ collection of Churchill's best writing is gathered together here, reflecting his first-hand experience, notations, speeches, and journals. Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in large part due to the writing reflected in these important books that journal the everyday happenings and relationships between the Axis and the Allies during World War II and other major 20th century conflicts.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Winston Churchill was not only a statesman and leader of historic proportions, he also possessed substantial literary talents. These two factors combine to make The Gathering Storm a unique work. The first volume of Churchill's memoirs, this selection is broken into two parts. The first, "From War to War," consists of Churchill's critical observations on the settlement of World War I and its place in the causes of the Second World War. The second volume contains letters and memoranda from the British government--of which Churchill was part--as the country plunged unprepared into war. This stands as the best of history: written as it was made, by the man who made it.

Review

"It is our immense good fortune that a man who presided over this crisis in history is able to turn the action he lived through into enduring literature." The New York Times

Product Details

  • File Size: 3361 KB
  • Print Length: 793 pages
  • Publisher: RosettaBooks (July 1, 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B003XVYLF8
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,343 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
200 of 201 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Tiepoes galoore June 29, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased the six volumes of this set for my Kindle even though I have the work in hardback. Winnie is quite a stout fellow even when he's only print on paper, most volumes running around 800 pages. Kindle seemed a great way to make him portable instead of portly. I am on my fourth reading of the collection with one of those being this digital version. The works themselves are a unique insight to WWII at the highest level and I recommend them to anyone with an interest in this subject. My negative review is NOT about the writing or the subject matter. I am appalled at the number of typographical errors in the Kindle versions. In the Third volume there is literally at least one on every page of the first half of the book. Throughout the volumes the last name of the French Admiral Darlan is misspelled. Place names, unit designations, conjunctions, prepositions, nouns and verbs are butchered throughout the works. In addition the maps displayed very poorly on my Kindle. It is a shame that these books have been so shabbily converted to digital format. I repeat these errors are rife throughout all six volumes. If I were unfamiliar with the work there are passages that would be meaningless because of the errors. Don't waste your money on the Kindle version.
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86 of 88 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Quality of this edition is BAD September 3, 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is great. However it was clearly scanned poorly and went through no revisin or proofing whatsoeber. Any publishing house should be embaraced by this edition.
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Library Binding
Histories of the Second World War abound, but they are usually written by persons whose perspective is either from a later time or at the time of the events but far from the halls of power. The Gathering Storm, is the first of the six-part The Second World War series by then British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. This is a truly unique perspective on one of the greatest calamities in modern history, and the author's skill as a recorder of the events resulted in a masterpiece of historical literature--a work that helped Churchill win the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Some criticize this work on the grounds that it assigns blame for the war on the pacifist leaders who were the dominant political force between the world wars. While I agree that historians writing about events and personalities from the outside ought to remain as neutral as they can, eyewitness accounts from the participants in the events ought to be allowed a broader role. They are in the special position of not only recording the events they witnessed but also of passing on to later generations the immediate lessons that could be learned from them--lessons that might otherwise be overlooked.

There are two lessons that the author wished to convey about the events leading up to the war. The first is that the war could have been avoided, and the second is why it was not. The Gathering Storm--especially Book One of the volume--makes the case for these arguments. It describes the several opportunities that the allies missed to prevent the war, and it reveals in bitter irony the inevitable failure of the "peace at all costs" ideology when held by those in power. When one believes that something is so good that it is worth having "at any cost," one may not realize that the cost may be higher than anyone can afford to pay. The cost, for example, of avoiding a small war in 1936--to drive Germany back out of the Rhineland--may have been the enormous war that erupted three years later.

If you do not wish history to inform you of the reasons things happened the way they did, you probably will not like this book. If, however, you are looking for possible answers for how and why such a horrendous tragedy could have occurred, you may find them here.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Too many details not necessary for a reader
Too many details are making this book quite boring. I believe a reader is not interested that much in so many detals, for instance for the operations in Norway, but more in the... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Hari Kostov
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling & Brilliant
Winston Churchill was one of the most charismatic and influential leaders of World War 2 on either side. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Todd Kinsey
4.0 out of 5 stars Kindle edition not so good
The book as such is extremely good. I enjoyed a lot reading it.

I didnt't give five stars because the Kindle edition has some problems. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Ivanchow
4.0 out of 5 stars ZM's Opinion
This is Winston Churchill's first volume of a 6 volume history fo World War II. It is long and tedious to get through, and I totally loved it. Read more
Published 20 days ago by ZM
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding series
The definitive writing of World War II and the accompanying five other volunes. Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953 for these volumes.
Published 24 days ago by Roger Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding writing with perspective, multiple typographical errors
Following a rereading of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Gathering Storm was a perfect complement. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Lin Butter-sturman
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Love everything about the book except spelling/punctuation marks. For what the book is, should be much better. However, is worth 5 stars.
Published 26 days ago by John Cunico
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but
This is a great historical read for those interested in WW 2, but I have to agree with earlier opinions about the poor quality of the transformation to digital. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Raymond Frey
4.0 out of 5 stars Very enlightening!
I truly enjoyed this bird's-eye account of WW2 and the buildup to it. My WW2 vet father was huge fan of Churchill. I see why more clearly after reading this.
Published 29 days ago by maryjane
5.0 out of 5 stars History Repeats
Learn from history or will be doomed to repeat. Inaction by world powers in the run up to WWII made that war much worse than it had to be. Same thing happening today.
Published 1 month ago by Janet L. Bryant
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