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Douglas S. Russell

WINSTON CHURCHILL - SOLDIER: The Military Life of a Gentleman at War Hardcover – June 19, 2005

by Douglas Russell (Author)

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Considering he has been and will remain to be one of the most studied personalities of the 20th century, relatively little has been written about the military service and war experiences of Winston Churchill - even his own writings give scant coverage of this important part of his life, despite his own admission of the impact it had upon him. Most biographies limit their coverage of his days in uniform but this learned and thorough volume gives a full understanding of how Churchill's military service molded his character, and how it served him in his political career.

His legendary qualities of leadership, personal drive and commitment to a cause were all very much honed in his early years when military life influenced his thinking and demeanor.

Did the Army make a man of the boy? Did it prepare him for spirited leadership? And what faults and failings did his military life identify to Churchill himself and his contemporaries?

This most comprehensive examination yet of his soldiering career is destined to become a core work in Churchillian studies.

Print length

280 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Brasseys
Publication date

June 19, 2005
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

185753364X
ISBN-13

978-1857533644
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brasseys; 1St Edition (June 19, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 185753364X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1857533644
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.98 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,824,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #141,879 in World History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
12 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

12 global ratings

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Satori

Churchill on the Battlefield

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 21, 2022

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This book tells the fascinating story of Winston Churchill's service as a military officer under active battlefield fire, in five wars -- long before he led Britain in its "finest hour" in WWII. Dougs Russell, a former US Army military intelligence officer and distinguished jurist, recounts Churchill's military exploits in clear and crisp detail and with many new anecdotes covering the wars in Cuba, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Africa and then in France in WWI.

The subtitle "A Gentleman at War" aptly captures the fact that, although Churchill approached his soldierly duties with hard work and deadly seriousness, he did so with the panache of a 19th century gentleman. Brandy on the battlefield. Polo on Sundays. Even more strange to modern readers is that Churchill often served as a war correspondent for major publications at the same time as he was an officer fighting the war. This created interesting difficulties and tensions with his superior officers.

Russell also shows us Churchill's bumptious and exuberant enthusiasm for the battlefield. Churchill frequently used all of the contacts at his disposal with regard to getting good military assignments. But Russell points out that Churchill used his contacts to get INTO battles, not to get out of them. This book is not a hagiography. It is an excellent account of Churchill's military career by a thoughtful modern military officer who appears to have actually walked many of the battlefields himself.

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Bernard A. Weisberger

A Hero In the Making

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 10, 2006

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This book is a labor of love and it shows. In an overture to his political career, Winston Churchill was graduated from Great Britain's royal military academy in 1894, aged twenty, and served as a professional officer (and part-time war correspondent) t for the next six years. He saw action on India's northwest frontier, in Cuba as an observer with the Spanish army during the Cuban insurrection of 1895, in what was then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1898, and in the Boer War in 1899-1900. Then in 1915, after losing his post as a Cabinet Minister, a middle-aged Churchill returned to duty on the Western Front for a year. He thus saw colonial war in Africa and Asia in the late days of the British Empire, when it was considered something of a moderately dangerous sport for gentleman cavalry officers, and in his own middle age when it had become an industrial-scale slaughter in the mud of the trenches of Flanders. Russell tells the story with thoroughgoing attention to detail based on exhaustive research--including visits to the scenes he describes--skipping nothing, from details of uniforms and daily patterns of army life, to tactics and moment-by-moment experiences in battle. No one interested in military history should miss this book.

But the general reader, too, will find it fascinating because the central figure, never lost sight of, is young Winston Churchill--ambitious, outspoken (sometimes to his disadantage,) eloquent, completely loyal to class and country, and absolutely without fear on the battlefields where he narrowly missed death several times. Likewise gifted with a sense of the sweep of history that he later poured into many books. Everyone should make the acquaintance of this genuine and colorful giant in his formative years to learn why he became a great wartime leader. Those of us, like this reviewer, old enough to remember that deep voice using the mightiest resources of the English language to rally Britain and the free world against the Axis even in the darkest moments of World War II will be especially thrilled. Those younger should make his refreshing acquaintance in this age of cookie-cutter politicians.

4 people found this helpful

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J. Wilson

Great detailed account of Winston's military life.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 9, 2020

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The detail and research in this book on Winston's military service and experiences makes for a wonderful read. The reader is transported to Sandhurst, India, the NW frontier, Africa and the Western front in WWI in this magnificent narrative.

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David W. Lang

The Churchill unknown to most Americans

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 14, 2008

In the popular--especially American--mind, the career of Winston Churchill begins in 1940, but in fact he had many careers, and in all of them, he demonstrated courage and a prodigious amount of energy. In Winston Churchill: Soldier, Douglas S. Russell focuses on Churchill's early life as a gentleman and lieutenant in the service of Victorian England. It was, by any standard, an impressive service and Russell takes us through all the key events, illuminating them with informative and entertaining prose.

In a five-year period, Churchill saw combat in four countries, won several decorations including the Spanish Order of Military Merit, became fabulously famous as an escaped prisoner of war, wrote five books, and gained a seat in Parliament. He was not yet twenty-six.

It is an intimidating task to relate the events of such a life, and it is made more challenging by knowing who your subject was to become. Russell's achievement is admirable. He begins with Churchill's childhood--it is well to remember that the future Prime Minister was born forty years before the First World War--and takes us through his days at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst before going on to his service in the 4th Hussars and combat on an international stage. (It is difficult for an American to picture Churchill fighting in Cuba.)

Russell succeeds in showing the best traits of a biographer in this volume. He is engaged with his subject and yet he retains a scholarly distance. It is not easy to maintain such balance with someone who looms as large in our minds as Churchill.

--David Lang at Advance Book Reviews

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

John Bridgeman CBE

... which prepared Winston Churchill for becoming one of the greatest wartime leaders in history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 18, 2015

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This outstanding piece of scholarship is essential reading for anyone interested in the military background which prepared Winston Churchill for becoming one of the greatest wartime leaders in history. It captures the imagination . And as a bonus there's an extremely good bibliography to round it all off. Well done.
Colonel John Bridgeman CBE TD DL
Honorary Colonel, Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars

One person found this helpful

col.m.s. cheetham

good well written history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 10, 2015

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Am satisfied, although I did not appreciate the book was ex library.I do not really like to have these in my library

Terence Cartwright

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 6, 2014

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