Winston Churchill's War Leadership [Paperback]

Martin Gilbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2004

How does he assess the information that is brought to him? How does his personal or political philosophy, or a moral sense, sustain him? How does he draw inspiration from those around him? How does he deal with setbacks and disasters? In this brilliant close-up look at Winston Churchill's leadership during the Second World War, Gilbert gets to the heart of the trials and struggles that have confronted the world's most powerful leaders, even up to current politicians such as George Bush and Tony Blair.

Basing the book on his intimate knowledge of Churchill's private and official papers, Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill’s official biographer, looks at the public figure and wartime propaganda, to reveal a very human, sensitive, and often tormented man, who nevertheless found the strength to lead his nation forward from the darkest and most dangerous of times.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Invited to lecture at the White House in February 2002, Gilbert, known as Winston Churchill's official biographer, hopes this commentary "can be of service" to the leaders of the war on terror. Whether George W. Bush and Tony Blair have been consciously imitating Churchill will be left for future historians to discover; Gilbert, for his part, cautions that "Churchill's war leadership can have no parallel," except during a war conducted on the scale of World War II. Caveat announced, Gilbert proceeds point by point to Churchill's direction of affairs, of which his celebrated speeches and buoyancy in public (depicted in the author's photo album Churchill at War [BKL F 15 04]) was only one praiseworthy aspect. Above all, Gilbert credits Churchill's refusal to deal with Hitler in 1940 and rates highly as well Churchill's articulation of the war's aim as the defense of democracy. Beneath the public plane, Churchill's day-to-day activity (such as attending to intelligence and logistical details) was, according to Gilbert, equally integral to his leadership. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Sir Martin Gilbert is Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. He is the author of seventy-three books, among them Churchill: A Life, comprehensive studies of both the First and Second World Wars, and his three-volume work A History of the Twentieth Century. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 1994 and was knighted in 1995. He lives in London with his wife Susan and their two boys.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140007732X
• ISBN-13: 978-1400077328
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sir Martin Gilbert is one of the leading historians of his generation. An Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford - of which he was a fellow for thirty years - he is the official biographer of Churchill and the author of eighty books, among them Churchill - A Life and The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. For more information please visit http://www.martingilbert

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Very Short Monograph Disguised as a Book!, July 3, 2007

By 

Gilberto Villahermosa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Winston Churchill's War Leadership (Paperback)

There should be a law against very short monographs or pamphlets that disguise themselves as books (complete with a book price)! Unfortunately, this practice is becoming more common among (even great) historians eager to make a dollar.

Martin Gilbert is a talented historian and the world's foremost expert on Winston Churchill and his official biographer. I enjoy reading anything on Winston Churchill and anything written by Martin Gilbert and have paid full price for most of his real books.

This monograph, however, left me feeling robbed. Not only was there nothing new here (all of this has been covered in his previous works), but it was less readable than Martin's other works. Indeed, this is nothing more than the transcript of a talk Gilbert gave at the White House in February 2002, suggesting that he is perhaps more comfortable with the written word than the spoken one.

I will continue to purchase Gilbert's historical works, but will shy away from ever purchasing another of his pamphlets!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Churchill's greatness as a leader beautifully explicated, July 11, 2004

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Winston Churchill's War Leadership (Paperback)

This book manages to outline the major principles of Churchill's greatness as a leader, and to give a fascinating account of the decision- making process during the Second World War. One of the major elements and this should be kept in mind by Western leaders today is that Churchill even in the darkest hours would not placate and negotiate with Evil. The word 'Defeat' was simply not part of his strategic vocabulary. His indomitable spirit influenced all those around him.
This does not mean as Gilbert makes clear that Churchill did not have his doubts, his despairs, his periods of anger and frustration. But always he was able to overcome , and to keep the main goal, the defeat of the enemy before his eyes. His remarkable courage and his great ability to inspire others , combined with his thorough, responsible and comprehensive intellect helped make him the outstanding political leader of the twentieth century. Whether at the darkest hour of retreat at Dunkirk or in the moments of great relief and victory Churchill made himself the living embodiment of the spirit of the people, the salty and courageously defiant British people he led and loved.
Gilbert is a master of condensation, of wise judgment in writing. He has done all those who care about the subject of Leadership a very real service with this small in size, but great in meaning, work.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, June 19, 2011

By 

Stephen - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Winston Churchill's War Leadership (Paperback)

Usually I am all for books that teach me techniques and help me apply strategies to my own life. This book didn't directly do that but did help me understand the power of persistence and self-belief.

Through reading this book I learned how Winston Churchill never backed down and made keeping high public morale one of his highest priorities. I knew of Britain's importance to WWII but I did not know of his direct impact on keeping Britain a viable enemy for the German's.

His written letters to Roosevelt and other authority figures were one of many hidden ways he added every ounce of help to the Ally's side of the war. I am sure without Churchill's character the war would of been much more difficult even with America's involvement and Hitler's mistake to attack Russia.

Read this book slowly and notice all his character traits. You may get a lot out of it or, at the least, understand why Churchill is such an important person in history.