Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed History [Hardcover]

Marvin Rintala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1990

Rintala makes a unique case for the role that friendship plays in politics.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

They met in 1901, the day of Churchill's maiden speech in the House of Commons, and remained fast friends until Lloyd George's death in 1945. As prime minister, each in turn led the British nation to victory in a world war, David Lloyd George in 1916-1918, Winston Churchill in 1940-1945. They were sneeringly referred to as the Heavenly Twins by political colleagues who hated them and envied their power and charisma. Rintals, who teaches European politics at Boston College, probes the dynamics of their political and personal partnership and relates how they supported each other in times of stress. In a masterful exposition, he compares their formative years, the development of their oratorical and writing skills, their sex lives (Lloyd George, according to the author, was a lecher; Churchill's sexual requirements were modest) and the character of their mental depressions.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Rintala examines the personal nature and the historical impact of the deep and abiding friendship that existed between political rivals David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Though Lloyd George, distinguished leader of the British Liberal Party and prime minister during World War I, and Churchill, a staunch Conservative and prime minister during World War II, often disagreed on matters of philosophy and policy, they remained devoted friends and often influenced each other's views and positions. Rintala argues that "the personal relationship of Lloyd George and Churchill may have had more significant political consequences than any other personal relationship in the British experience." Bolstering this seemingly inflated claim, he cites as evidence the fact that both Lloyd George and Churchill were instrumental in abolishing the power of the House of Lords in 1911; worked in concert in order to guarantee immediate British participation in the rapidly widening European conflict in 1914; and Lloyd George successfully championed Churchill's succession to the prime ministership in 1940. Though Rintala tends to get a bit carried away with his specific theory, he does offer some relevant insight into a complex social and historical subject. Recommended for larger political science and British history collections. Margaret Flanagan

Product Details

• Hardcover: 231 pages
• Publisher: Madison Books (February 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568330316
• ISBN-13: 978-1568330310
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,952,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, May 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed History (Hardcover)

I have to agree with the other two reviewers. This is one of the silliest books that I have ever read. The grammar and syntax in this book are lamentable and it is extremely boring. This truly is some of the worst writing I've ever read. My advice is to run from any book that this man has the audacity to publish. Hardly a scholar and nowhere near being a writer, this author should truly give up!!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding the minds of great men, April 23, 2003

By 

JPA (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed History (Hardcover)

For as long as I can remember, I have had an interest in the biographies of great statesmen. I wanted to read about the lives of the men that have changed the world and understand what made them unique, what gave them the ability to be such influential historical figures. But reading about the bare-bones facts of a person's life does not reveal their inner motives; it does not tell the reader what forces drove these men to lead such influential lives. It was not until I read Rintala's book about the friendship between Churchill and Lloyd George that I discovered the missing link: combining psychology with biography. Not only does this book give the reader a fascinating perspective into the relationship between these two men, it tells the reader what forces shaped their personalities. I would recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in understanding the lives of two of the most powerful people of the 20th century. If you think you know the lives of Lloyd George or Winston Churchill by reading other biographies, your understanding of these two men will not be complete until you have read this book.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A horrendous historical distortion., April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed History (Hardcover)

This book was a terrible compolation of ridiculous fact and capricious opinion. The author, clearly a pompous man, makes enormously random and unfounded claims. His theories are ignorant and foolish, accompanied by tedious and gramatically poor writing. Truly an atrocious piece of writing.