Customer Reviews

Second World War

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Churchill's memoirs certainly are a classic, which has to be on every WW II listmania list. The abridged edition omits many parts and of his six volume set, but the omissions are ever compensated by the author's highly refined contemplation on the causes and political aspects of the Second World War. Perhaps, the book could even be named "Diplomacy of the Second World War".

Churchill's lucid language and reflections upon grand strategy of the war, compensate for the absence of decent maps and other visual aids. A reader will be surprised about the ease he speaks describing the events and processes, which happened on such a grandiose scale. The author himself comments this by saying, that statesman are not called upon only to settle easy questions, since these often settle themselves. To settle difficult ones, he says, a statesman has to have something more than powerful one-track mind.

Churchill's narrative gets even more exciting, when he dwells upon several "what if" scenarios. On the other hand, to stick to ground, he embellishes his account with ordinary, prosaic details of everyday life - special meals, good sleep habits etc. Occasionally, one might also get an impression, that his story turns slightly arrogant, for instance, when he speaks about the divisions as if the pieces on the board (p.772) or addressing soldiers in Carthage, saying, that he had no idea what he had said to them (p. 671). Although at the end one might get inkling that Churchill or his story in this book does not unfold completely, nevertheless, the verities he brings to a reader clearly outweigh things unsaid. As he puts it, "it is more agreeable to have the right to act, even in a limited sphere, than the privilege to talk at large".