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48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Volume 1 of the life of Winston Spencer Churchill, April 30, 2000
This review is from: The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 (Paperback)
"The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932," is the first of William Manchester's projected three-volume biography of Winston Spencer Churchill. I found it a superbly crafted, supremely well researched account of the first 58 years of the life of the 20th century's greatest statesman. With wit and candor, Manchester chronicles Churchill from his earliest days as the neglected and troublesome first child of Lord Randolph Churchill and his American-born wife, Jennie, to his entry into the political "wilderness" over home rule in India in 1932. Manchester's portrait of his subject is balanced and objective; we see Churchill at his finest: a courageous (almost to the point of foolhardiness) army officer, and later a gifted Member of Parliament who became one of the youngest Cabinet ministers in British history. We also see him at his worst: a Cabinet minister with appalling political judgment at times, quick to meddle in other ministers' affairs while neglecting his own, and with an uncanny ability to alienate not only his political foes, but almost all his political allies as well. In addition to a wonderfully written chronology of Churchill's life, Manchester provides an overview of the times in which Churchill lived. I was fascinated by the author's account of Victorian England -- its culture, its mores, and its view of itself in the world. The sections which describe Churchill's times make highly entertaining and absorbing reading by themselves. "The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932," clearly shows why William Manchester is one of the pre-eminent biographers at work today. The book is written with obviously meticulous scholarship, insightful analysis, and crisp, sparkling prose; I have yet to find a better account of Churchill's life. Now, if only Mr. Manchester would give us that third volume . . .
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A larger-than-life book about a larger-than-life man..., November 10, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 (Paperback)
William Manchester (1922 - ), one of the GI generation's finest writers, has written about everything from the Kennedys to acid-penned reporter H.L. Mencken. But in this book he presents his greatest work - a superb biography about one of the twentieth century's greatest heroes - Sir Winston Churchill. This volume, which includes the first fifty years of Churchill's crowded life, is written with a Victorian style and passion for adventure that Churchill himself would have admired. (What other biography uses the word "Array", instead of "Table of Contents", to list the chapter headings)? Churchill's life does read like something out of a Hollywood script - he was the scion of one of England's most prominent families. His father was a member of Parliament and could have become Prime Minister, had he not developed syphillis, which eventually drove him mad and killed him at an early age. He was often cruel to his son Winston, harshly criticizing even his smallest mistakes. His beautiful American-born mother had extramarital affairs with many handsome men, including the King of England. Largely ignored by his wealthy and famous parents, Churchill was a "problem child" in his youth, and was expelled from several private schools until he finally found a career in the British military. He fought in a number of small but bloody wars in Britain's colonies in Africa and India, and he often was in the thick of the fighting, recklessly exposing himself to bullets and cannon fire. In the Boer War in South Africa in the late 1890's he was captured by enemy troops and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp, but made a daring escape and returned safely to his own forces. Elected to Parliament at the age of 25, he quickly moved up the political ladder, even changing political parties when it suited him. By World War One he was the head of the British Navy, but here things began to go wrong. In 1915 he proposed to invade and conquer Turkey, a German ally, thus knocking it out of the war and allowing Allied forces to attack Austria and Germany from the south. The plan was sound, but the invasion was so bungled by incompetent British generals and admirals that it was a total failure, and Churchill was forced to take the blame and resign in disgrace. He then spent some time as an infantry officer in the front lines in France, and in the 1920's enjoyed something of a political comeback as the Chancellor of the Exchequer (a position similar to our Secretary of the Treasury). However, his poor handling of Britain's economic woes led him to fall out of favor, and by the end of the book in 1932 Churchill is an outsider in Parliament, with little real power or influence. Yet this book is far more than a simple biography. True to form, Manchester offers an engrossing account of the entire Victorian era that Churchill grew up in - the glories of the British Empire, the racist "raj" system in British-ruled India (where white Englishmen were encouraged by hotel signs "not to beat their (Indian) servants" in the hotel lobby); the terrible conditions that Britain's poor lived under; and the peculiar social mores and customs of the British upper class to which Churchill so proudly belonged. Although Manchester clearly admires Churchill (and who wouldn't, after reading this book), he isn't afraid to note that in many ways Churchill was a very flawed man, and must have been difficult to deal with. An open snob, Churchill had all of the prejudices of his class - he treated his servants poorly, insulted his secretaries and others who couldn't keep up with him mentally or verbally, disliked strong women and wasn't above making chauvanistic remarks about them in public, and he had a huge ego and seemed to think that the rest of the world revolved around him and his needs. And, while he expressed sympathy for the lower classes, he regarded Britain's middle class with aristocratic disdain, this despite the fact that they paid most of the nation's bills and taxes. Yet his genius, as Manchester copiously notes, was genuine - his brilliant skills as a writer and orator, his political and personal courage, his genuine committment to personal freedom and liberty, all these and more made him one of the great historical leaders of all time. Quite simply, not only is this Mr. Manchester's finest work (out of many), but it reads more like great literature than a simple biography - "The Last Lion" is a larger-than-life book about a larger-than-life man. My only regret is that due to his recent stroke Mr. Manchester will not be able to complete this biography - a real tragedy for anyone who loves great biography.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book That Changed My Life, April 21, 2000
This review is from: The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 (Paperback)
William Manchester's two volume biography on the life of Winston Churchill is unforgettable. Manchester retells this great man's life with startling details that keep you consistently enthralled. The book's genius is not only in the biographical account, but in Manchester's ability to weave this biography into a lush context. The Last Lion's power comes from detail. Here, when Hitler first moves his troops we find that on the same day Margaret Mitchell's editor changed "Pansy" to Scarlet, and "Tommorow is Another Day" to "Gone With The Wind." Manchester seizes every opportunity to share his vast knowledge with his readers. The result is a work that seriously re-evaluates criticisms of Churchill that abounded both during and long after his lifetime. I am a better man for knowing the amazing life story of Churchill. Manchester's book makes this learning enormously entertaining.
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