Winston S. Churchill: Youth 1874-1900 [Hardcover]

Randolph S. Churchill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1966

Winston S. Churchill: Youth 1874-1900

Product Details

• Hardcover: 629 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co (June 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395075300
• ISBN-13: 978-0395075302
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,340,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Filial regard, January 21, 2010

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winston S. Churchill: Youth 1874-1900 (Hardcover)

Randolph Churchill had a longstanding desire to do a biography of his father. When Winston was born his father was twenty-five and his mother was twenty. His maternal grandfather founded the American Jockey Club. Winston's mother seemed to him like a fairy princess. School for Winston was an unhappy affair. At school he felt lonely and abandoned. He was both backward and precocious. Maurice Baring asserts that Winston feuded with authority. When he was twelve his father left the Cabinet and was never recalled to office. Winston passed the entrance exam for Harrow and entered there in 1888. The headmaster, Mr. Welldon, took considerable pains with Winston. He was placed in the army class, preparing for Sandhurst. He had a gifted English teacher who taught English parsing and English analysis.

Much of the story of the subject's youth is told through the his letters and those of family and friends and associates and with a minimum of authorial intrusion. In the later stages of the book published works by Churchill and others and his articles are also quoted extensively. Thus, a number of voices are summoned. At Harrow Winston was fencing champion. He entered Sandhurst after three tries of passing the entrance exam. His father was put out when he bragged about his performance. To achieve success Winston Churchill had to develop intense powers of concentration. He was not a stupid and indolent schoolboy. His parents kept him at a distance.

His father, Lord Randolph, died in 1895 when Winston was twenty. Winston decided to emulate and vindicate his father. He joined the Fourth Hussars who were scheduled to be stationed in India for eight or nine years. In 1895 Winston and a fellow subaltern, Reggie Barnes, went to NY and Cuba. Winston arranged to write dispatches for the Daily Graphic. (Later Churchill had to deny that he had fought against the Cubans.) When his regiment was sent to India, Winston had two desires. The first was to read and learn about politics. The second was to get out of the service. Winston read Macaulay, Plato, and Gibbon. In 1898 he brought out THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE.

Winston sought everyone's help, including that of the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, to be permitted to accompany the British Expeditionary Force in the campaign for Khartoum. By that time, in the words of his son, Winston had become markedly egocentric and self-expressive. Subsequently he wrote THE RIVER WAR. Arriving in Sudan, Winston learned that Kitchener was furious with Sir Evelyn Wood for giving him a place in the Expeditionary Force. The Prince of Wales wrote to Churchill that he did not think officers serving in a campaign should write for a newspaper.

Before his book THE RIVER WAR was completed, Winston resigned from the Army. He sought a seat in Parliament from Oldham. He was defeated, but not disgraced. Churchill went to Cape Town to report on the Boer War. He was special correspondent to The Morning Post. He became a prisoner of war. He traveled on an armored train which came under fire. After escaping from imprisonment in Pretoria he ended up in the only house in the vicinity supporting the English cause. He hid in a mine with the pit ponies. Later he was hidden in a storehouse above ground and spirited away with a load of wool to Portuguese East Africa. A confederate guided him to the office of the British Consul. At Durban he discovered he had become world famous. Winston's book about Africa was entitled LONDON TO LADYSMITH. (His third book to be published was a novel, SAVAROLA.)

In 1900 Winston stood for Parliament again and was successful. He embarked upon lecture tours in England and America. The book ends with the Queen's funeral. Genealogical Tables and the Index appear at the end. Short biographies of principal characters appear at the beginning. Churchill used family contacts and others to obtain positions in service to his ambitions. He had status but was always in need of funds.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Churchill and Gilbert, August 6, 2009

By 

David Rasch (Burnsville, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This is the volume Randolph did with, at that time, Mr. Gilbert. It does not have the tome of subsequent volumes of the biography. It sets a standard for objectivity to those who would apotheosize one of the pivotal personalities of the age, warts and all. At times I thought sir Winston was one spoiled mama's boy. But its the writing that kept me reading. The use of extracts from letters shows how sir Winston grew and how his command of language grew with him. Altogether an excellent read.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was worth every penny, June 23, 2006

By 

Sir Randolf Mordley "Lord Mordley" (Nottingham England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winston S. Churchill: Youth 1874-1900 (Hardcover)

Wait a minute. Sorry is thing on? Right. This is a great deal. I would bet one red cent on how incredible this book is. Moreover, if I had a penny for everytime I have cited this book I would enough to purchase this book numerous times. The writing is actually very profound especially for the price. Some places charge over one hundred dollars for this book. Crazy profit margin. Anyway, I loved it. Enjoy.