17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Most Interesting Thesis..., April 28, 2009
This review is from: Winston Churchill: The Flawed Genius of WWII (Hardcover)
I found Christopher Catherwood's most recent work on Churchill to be well written with an interesting thesis that captures, with a unique twist, what others have also said about Britain's great leader. Catherwood's latest offering doesn't necessarily pave new ground (by the author's own admission) but does put together the historical facts in a way that shows that Churchill's strengths had their weak side. What I appreciate most about Catherwood's historical writing is the way he weaves the facts together in a story that makes the past more than just a collection of what happened and when. He gets behind the scenes and paints the picture of what drove Churchill's decision making and strategic planning, erred at times as it was. What emerges is a portrait of the man that the title of the book suggests: a flawed genius, and just the right man for just the right time.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
File under fiction!, April 21, 2009
Imagine, if you will, a new book about, say, the Titanic which purports to produce newly discovered "hard evidence" to prove the Captain's culpability based on the premise "had the iceberg not been there, there would not have been a collision and by striking that iceberg, therefore, it must have been the Captain's fault." Yes I know, it doesn't make any sense at all. It does, however, make about as much sense as this book.
Any biography, especially one about such a complex man as Churchill - soldier, journalist, hero, accomplished painter, orator, Nobel laureate, politician and leader of nations, should include that which is good, bad and even the ugly so that we may gauge exactly which qualities made him what he was. Dwelling on just the "good" would wrongly suggest he was an angel just as any concentration on the ugly would provide an equally false picture. In this work, however, we are taken beyond human characteristics and into the realms of fantasy as author Christopher Catherwood describes events which never actually occurred in order to expose his perception of Churchill's flawed character. Throughout his tirade of anti-British rhetoric, Catherwood's fundamental arguments are not based on actual facts and events but on `but if this had happened' then Churchill was wrong to have done whatever and `if that had happened' then Churchill should never have done as follows...
By introducing such confusing factors into what purports to be a serious biographical account, there is a very real danger of this fiction finding its way into factual history. In a shoddy, badly written and very dull work, the continual theme is as sound as American modern history being rewritten on the basis that, had President Kennedy not gone to Dallas on that fateful day, he would not have been shot. But he did and he was and any other scenario is, as I can only repeat, fictional.
Instead of exposing Churchill as less than perfect, however, Catherwood's unremitting diatribe only serves to reveal his own inadequacies as a historian who is now without credibility. This is the work of an insecure person who seeks the approval of others by slaying a Dragon and claiming the heroic status that goes which such an accomplishment. In order to do this, however, he must first convince the reader such a beast exists and there he fails quite miserably.
Devoid of objectivity and readable prose, all we have is the invention of doubtful, sometimes even ridiculous, principles from which the author seeks to develop his laborious and defective arguments. It is not Churchill who is shown to be flawed by this book, but the author. Most lamentable of all is his having lost sight of the most important consideration of any writer which is to hold the reader in the highest possible esteem. Without the reader, there is no point in writing anything from road signs to poetry or from books to shopping lists and by using fiction to create spurious arguments from which to extract alternative outcomes in history - outcomes that were never possible, Catherwood has taken his potential readership for complete fools.
No country or race has a monopoly on great people and nobody has ever suggested Churchill (or anyone else) was the greatest of all time - certainly not! Privately, we might all possess a bias towards our own countrymen, but that's just an extension of my dad's bigger than your dad and has no place here. I am confident that whatever Churchill did or did not do, will be judged on the basis of what actually occurred and what was known to him at the time and that this work will be consigned to the dustbin and the content not considered by any serious historian.
NM
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
World War Two and WSR for Teen Age Readers, April 28, 2010
Several of the professional reviewers have characterized Catherwood's style as clear and readable. I would add "dumbed-down to the level of ninth graders". He achieves clarity by reiteration of key ideas in a style that I can only compare to military training manuals. I am a fan of Churchill and was looking forward to a contrarian view. Catherwood's statement of his obvious flaws broke no new ground for anyone who has made even the most superficial study of WSR.
I am a frequent buyer through Amazon, but note that my opinions mentioned above seem to be justified as my copy came from the remaindered table at $5.00.
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